Aug. 12, 2016
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Head coach Darren Ambrose and the Vanderbilt soccer team travel to Greenville, South Carolina to play the Furman Paladins this Saturday in their first road trip of the year.
The Commodores head into Saturday’s 5:00 pm CT match following a 0-0 draw against Southeast Missouri State. On Tuesday two freshmen started, and eight new comers saw playing time with more on slate to earn minutes this weekend. While VU walked away from the competition scoreless, Ambrose and his staff were able to see glimpses of what this 2016 squad can do.
“When they saw the video they realized you know what, we can do better, which is what you want,” said Ambrose. “So this weekend, there has to be more urgency about our play in the attacking piece. To be fair, we’ve only had two sessions on some attacking bits, but again when you’ve got five or six personalities attacking being freshmen or sophomores, patience is key and a good attitude to learning. Over the last three days we’ve addressed some of those attacking things. We just want to see a bit more punch, a bit more bite, and urgency.”
While the exhibition against Furman University doesn’t count for or against the Commodores, the squad’s 12 newcomers will get a taste of what road travel is like as a collegiate student-athlete.
“The preseason has given them (the freshmen) a taste of what it’s like to get up, train, go to school, get lunch, do your homework, study, go to training… and now you throw in a bus trip. It’s one of the reasons we schedule a game on the road in preseason, you know, let’s go and get our and make the five to six hour trip. It’s all a part of being an elite athlete in a Division I program. The faster we can get them acclimatized, the better.”
In the two team’s last meeting, the Commodores came out on top of Furman, 1-0 back in 2011. Saturday will be Furman’s second home preseason exhibition after falling 4-1 to the Georgia Bulldogs. The Paladins totaled 16 shots against the Bulldog defense, hitting the cross bar twice and finally converting in the 69th minute at the Stone Soccer Stadium.
Furman finished the 2015 season with a 17-5-1 record and claimed second place in the SoCon regular season standings with a 7-1-1 league mark.
Saturday’s exhibition can be followed live through StatBraodcast.com. Once back in Nashville, the Commodore squad will be at Dore Jam this Sunday at 2:00 pm in the Vanderbilt Indoor Facility.