Sept. 24, 2015
Game Notes | Ambrose Interview
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A month chock-full of home games ends in that fashion for the Vanderbilt soccer team.
The Commodores will host two of the SEC’s top teams this weekend to close out September. No. 9 Florida comes to town at 7 p.m. on Friday. On Sunday, they welcome in-state rival Tennessee at 4 p.m. for a game that will be televised nationally on the SEC Network.
Vanderbilt (5-4-1, 1-1 SEC) is trying to continue a solid stretch in which it has won four of six games and notched a tie.
“We try not to get too high and too low here, but everyone wants to play against the best,” Vanderbilt coach Darren Ambrose said. “And we want to become one of those teams over time. But right now, like when we went to A&M, I think there is a belief about our group. They do see they have the ability when they assert themselves and they put forth their best effort that they can play and that they can compete with these teams. Friday will be no different. We’re going into it with an expectation to win the game.”
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
The Commodores host No. 9 Florida on Friday and in-state rival Tennessee on Sunday in a game that will be aired nationally on SEC Network.
Florida is 23-2-1 all-time against the Commodores, having won the last nine games in the series. The Gators (7-2, 1-1 SEC) finished second in the SEC last year and were picked to win the league this year. They defeated then-No. 1 and defending national champ Florida State in non-conference play. Since losing to No. 4 Texas A&M two weeks ago, Florida has won three straight by outscoring its opponents 14-2.
The Gators are led by junior Savannah Jordan, who is tied for second in the country with 10 goals. Florida averages three goals a game for eighth most in the nation.
Tennessee enters with a 5-1-3 mark and 1-1 record in league play after suffering its first loss of the season on Sunday to No. 14 Auburn. The Vols had won five in a row before the loss and hadn’t allowed a goal before the Tigers scored three.
UT ranks ninth in the country with a .414 goals against average as Julie Eckel has posted six shutouts and made 35 saves. Offensively, Anna McClung leads the Vols with nine goals. Vanderbilt won last year’s meeting 2-0 in Knoxville and leads the series 10-9-3.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Vanderbilt Soccer/Lacrosse Complex has been a welcome sight for the Commodores so far this year.
VU is 4-1-1 at home this season. After dropping the season opener to Miami-Ohio, the ‘Dores have won four of their last five and notched a tie. With five home games left, Vanderbilt already has as many home wins as it did all of last year.
DEUCES WILD
Two has been the magic number for the Commodores this season.
VU is 4-0 when it scores two or more goals this year. On the flip side, the Commodores are 1-4-1 when they score less than two goals.
WEEKLY REPORT
Vanderbilt split a split weekend, falling on the road to No. 5 Texas A&M with a 1-0 loss on Friday before coming home for a Sunday tilt against Evansville and picking up a 2-1 win.
Against Texas A&M, the Commodores outshot the Aggies 12-9 and won the corner kick battle 8-2 in addition to controlling possession for most of the first half. But A&M scored in the 70th minute as VU narrowly missed pulling off the upset.
On Sunday against Evansville, Vanderbilt rallied from a one-goal deficit to win its final non-conference game. The Commodores surrendered a goal in the seventh minute, but responded with two goals. Redshirt senior Taylor Elliott scored her first goal of the season and tied the game in the 38th minute off an assist from Simone Charley.
In the 70th minute, fellow senior Jamie Kator scored her first goal of the season. She knocked in a deflection off a shot by Lina Granados to push the d’Dores in front. Senior Shannon Morrish made her first start in goal since 2013. Christiana Ogunsami took over after halftime and made five saves.
After starting 1-3, Vanderbilt is 4-1-1 in its last six games. The only loss in that stretch was to the fifth-ranked Aggies.
GLIMPSE OF THE ‘DORES
Vanderbilt, in its 29th women’s soccer season, returns 15 letterwinners and eight starters from a team that went 7-10-2 overall and 2-7-2 in SEC play.
Among those returning are All-SEC junior forward Simone Charley, who led the team with nine goals last year, and midfielder Lydia Simmons, who was named SEC All-Freshman. Goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami also returns after starting all 19 games as a freshman and leading the SEC with 113 saves.
In addition to Ogunsami, senior captain Erin Myers, senior Kelsey Tillman and junior Claire Anderson started all 19 games in 2014. Myers, a midfielder/defender, has started all 58 games of her career.
The Commodores return 56 percent of last year’s goal scorers. Both goalkeepers are back, as Ogunsami and senior Shannon Morrish combined for six shutouts.
The squad welcomes eight newcomers. Six freshmen arrive, plus a pair of transfers from the ACC  defender Danae O’Halloran from North Carolina and midfielder Kacy Scarpa, who played for national champ Florida State.
SIM CITY
Simone Charley enters the second half of what has so far been a superb two-sport college career. The 5-foot-8 junior forward from Hoover, Ala., leads active VU players with 16 career goals, including a team-high nine last year.
She accounted for seven of the team’s nine goals in league play and scored six goals in her last six games. She was named First Team All-SEC and All-South Region Second Team last year. She has scored a team-high three goals this season, including game-winners against Gonzaga and Mississippi State.
Charley also is a standout on the track as a three-time All-American. She placed fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships and then reached the podium at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a third-place finish in June. In the process, she leapt 44-3.25, breaking her own school record.
SIMMONS EMERGES AS SCORING THREAT
Midfielder Lydia Simmons earned SEC All-Freshman honors last year for her work as a field general and as the team’s top distributor with three assists. But this year she has also emerged as a scoring threat.
Simmons has scored the first three goals of her career in the last four games and is tied with Simone Charley with a team-high seven points. All three have come from at least 18 yards out.
The redshirt sophomore from Londonderry, N.H., booted her first career goal in a 1-0 victory against Dartmouth on Sept. 4. She followed up the next weekend with another goal from just outside the box in a 2-1 victory over Mississippi State. On Sunday, she tied Simone Charley for the team lead with her third goal of the season as she hooked in a corner kick in a 1-1 tie against High Point.
TASTING THE WORLD CUP
Redshirt junior Lina Granados made the 23-player roster for Colombia at the Women’s World Cup in June in Canada and traveled with the team during its four games. Colombia advanced out of pool play for the first time and fell to the United States, the eventual champ.
Granados hails from Ashburn, Va., but has dual citizenship as she was born in Bogota, Colombia. She has played for the Colombia Football Federation since she was 15, and has played in international tournaments three times. She has made her first five career starts in the last five games.
MORRISH BEGINS NURSING SCHOOL
Senior goalkeeper Shannon Morrish will be juggling not only soccer and her final year of undergraduate studies this fall but also nursing school. Morrish, a native of Bradenton, Fla., entered Vanderbilt University’s School of Nursing on Aug. 17. She is pursuing a master’s degree in adult/gerontology acute care. She’ll be a registered nurse after the first year and complete the requirements to be certified as a nurse practitioner by May 2017.
NEW FACES MAKE DEBUTS
Transfers Danae O’Halloran (North Carolina) and Kacy Scarpa (Florida State) have started all eight games. In addition, transfer Carley Bogan (William & Mary) and freshmen Kelsey Carrier, Maggie Clemmons, Megan Henry and Hannah Menard have made their VU debuts.