Oct. 8, 2015
Game Notes | Ambrose Interview | Ogunsami Interview
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For the third time in four weeks, the Vanderbilt soccer team will start off the weekend with a nationally ranked foe.
This time the Commodores face No. 20 Kentucky on the road at 6:30 p.m. (CST) on Friday in Lexington, Ky. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network +.
Heading into last week’s game against LSU – a scoreless tie and the lone game of the weekend – Vanderbilt had two straight Friday games against Top 10 foes. The Commodores came close to upsets in both, nearly knocking off then-No. 5 Texas A&M on the road in a 1-0 loss and just coming up short in a 3-2 loss to then-No. 9 Florida for their only two setbacks in league play.
VU hopes for another stellar performance when it takes on the Wildcats (9-2-2, 3-1-1), who jumped into the national rankings this week after tying No. 12 Florida on the road. The Commodores are aiming for their first win over a ranked opponent since 2013.
“They are very dynamic in the attacking part of the game,” Vanderbilt coach Darren Ambrose said of Kentucky. “They’ve got some very mobile players. They are obviously very good on the flanks. But again it is about defensive principles. That doesn’t change in what you do. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but you have to be good at those things. If we are good at those things, and our kids do their job and take care of their responsibility we will be OK.”
The trip to Lexington will be a quick one as Vanderbilt buses back on Friday night after the game. Arkansas comes to town on Sunday for a 1 p.m. tilt on SEC Network + at the VU Soccer Complex.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
The Commodores split the weekend with a road trip on Friday to No. 20 Kentucky before coming home on Sunday to face Arkansas.
The Wildcats are 9-2-2 and 3-1-1 in the SEC for a tie for third with Missouri in the league standings. They jumped into the national rankings this week after tying No. 12 Florida 1-1 on the road last Friday.
Zoe Swift and Michaela Dooley lead the Wildcat attack with four goals and four assists apiece. Courtney Raetzman is dangerous in the midfield with seven assists, which is tied for the most in the SEC. UK spreads it around on offense as eight players have scored multiple goals, and six have at least three.
Vanderbilt is 14-15 against Kentucky all-time, with the teams last meeting in 2013. VU last beat the Wildcats in 2009.
Arkansas enters Sunday’s matchup with a 5-6-1 record and 1-3-1 mark in league play. The Razorbacks are led by Claire Kelley, who has six goals and two assists. Erika Miller is one of the league’s top distributors with five assists. Arkansas, though, is missing one of its top scorers as Ashleigh Ellenwood suffered a leg injury just seven games in after she scored six goals in the first five games.
Vanderbilt is 18-9-1 all-time against the Razorbacks. But Arkansas has won the last two matches, including a 1-0 decision in 2014.
WEEKLY REPORT
Vanderbilt picked up a point in its lone SEC game last week.
The Commodores battled LSU to a scoreless tie last Friday in Baton Rouge, La., after two overtimes and 110 minutes of play.
Vanderbilt had just seven shots in its second straight tie. The Commodores mustered just one shot on goal. On the flip side, LSU had 11 shots, but Vanderbilt goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami kept the Tigers off the board.
Ogunsami made six saves to stop all six shots on goal by LSU. It marked Vanderbilt and Ogunsami’s third shutout of the season.
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 17 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, with two game-winners, in addition to a team-high three assists.
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 leads the team with four goals and nine points. Before this season, she hadn’t scored a goal, but she notched three in the first four games of September.
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 Sept. 13, she tied she hooked in a corner kick in a 1-1 tie against High Point. She then scored her team-high fourth goal of the season on Sept. 25 against Florida with a shot with her right foot in the 27th minute.
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
Several players have made their Vanderbilt debuts this season.
Transfers Danae O’Halloran (North Carolina) and Kacy Scarpa (Florida State) have been key cogs in the starting lineup. O’Halloran, a redshirt sophomore, has started all 13 games on defense. Scarpa has been solid at holding midfielder, starting 12 games and only missing VU’s bout against No. 9 Florida to a concussion.
In addition, transfer Carley Bogan (William & Mary) has played in five games off the bench. The redshirt sophomore walked on to the team after the first week of the season. Freshman Kelsey Carrier has played in all 13 games.
Fellow freshmen Maggie Clemmons, Megan Henry and Hannah Menard have made their VU debuts but are currently sidelined due to injury.