Aug. 18, 2016
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Following a pair of preseason tests, the Vanderbilt soccer team officially opens the 2016 season this weekend on the road. VU first travels north to face the Miami Redhawks on Friday at 3:00 pm CT, then rounds off play on Sunday, visiting Nashville neighbor, Lipscomb, at 5:00 pm CT.
While the `Dores walked away scoreless from exhibitions against SEMO (0-0) and Furman (1-0), the squad has reassessed various personnel, positions and now know much more about the abilities of its newcomers. Picked to finished 10th in the league by SEC head coaches, the Commodores look to surge off last season’s success after going 9-8-4 overall with a 4-4-3 mark in league play a year ago.
This season the Commodores return six starters, which help comprise the squad’s 15 returning letterwinners. In a release published by the SEC, Commodore fans should be sure to watch Cristina De Zeeuw, Sasha Gray, Kacy Scarpa and Lydia Simmons this season as they made the league’s preseason watch list and bring experienced eyes to the Commodore back line.
“They’re our experience,” said head coach Darren Ambrose. “There are other players who have experience too, but they been there before, they played in a lot of games… Our experience lies in those four girls and I think they can calm us. I think they can be an influence on the game; they can hold the ball, make passes, settle players down.”
Scouting the Redhawks
The Red and White got their season preparation done in the form of road exhibitions against Virginia Tech and Purdue last week, dropping both contests by a 2-0 count. MU returns 13 letter winners and eight starters from a group that went 11-8-2 overall and took fifth in the MAC standings with a 6-4-1 league record.
The Red and White bring back senior captain Dana Miller, who led the team with 1,923 minutes played on defense, along with senior goalkeeper Vic Maniaci (0.62 goals against average, .843 save percentage and 10 solo shutouts). On the attack, Miami has three of their top four scorers from a year ago back in the mix in Marble, Zalar and Dillon.
Scouting the Bisons
The Lipscomb women’s soccer team head into the 2016 regular season following a program-best campaign in its 2015 run. With preseason awards out, the Bisons field two-time Atlantic Sun preseason goalkeeper of the year, Anna Buhigas, and Defensive player of the year, Niamh Rawline, who will both look to limit the Commodore offense.
Prior to Sunday’s tilt, Lipscomb will start of the regular season on Aug. 19 with the Battle of the Boulevard against Belmont.
Last Time Out
In last season’s home opener against the Redhawks, VU walked away from the competition defeated by a score of 1-0. Against Lipscomb, Vandy earned its second straight home win of the 2015 season in a 2-0 decision over the Bison.
Live stats can be found for competitions against Miami and Lipscomb on VUCommodores.com under the `calendar’ portion of the homepage. For up to date information and a behind the scenes look at the VU squad, follow @VandySocr on Twitter.