May 31, 2017
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Head coach Darren Ambrose and the Vanderbilt women’s soccer team announced the program’s 2017 schedule on Wednesday, which features a challenging 18-game slate and 10 home opportunities to catch the Commodores in action.
“I think the schedule is a good balance of games to challenge us,” said Ambrose. “
We have tried to diversify our schedule this season, playing teams from nine different conferences (SoCon, AAC, OVC, A10, AAC, B10, CUSA, ASUN, and SEC) as well as adding some new opponents and games from a variety of regions.
Ultimately, we want to be in Orange Beach in November and in contention for an NCAA bid.”
The Dores, who begin their fall facing Furman and Memphis in exhibition action, are set to face four teams that finished 2016 ranked in the NSCAA’s Top-25 poll.
In all, Vanderbilt will also face six NCAA Tournament teams from 2016, all of which hail from the Southeastern Conference.
Vanderbilt’s nonconference schedule features home games against Tennessee Tech, Indiana, Rhode Island and crosstown neighbor Lipscomb. VU’s season opener versus Tech will be held on Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. CT. Vanderbilt heads into the matchup undefeated all-time against the Golden Eagles (4-0), including a 2-0 victory in 2012. Matches against Indiana and Rhode Island will be a part of the Music City Invitational.
Following the season opener, VU will hit the road for three straight road tests against teams the Dores have never faced; St. Louis (Aug. 20), Boston College (Aug. 25) and the University of Massachusetts (Aug. 27). VU’s trip to New England will provide tough competition, which will allow the Commodore staff an early opportunity to assess the squad’s progress against Atlantic Coast Conference and Atlantic 10 Conference squads.
“I am looking forward to returning to the Northeast to play in Boston,” Ambrose continued. “We have some region one girls and I like to try and take every player “home” or as close as we can get in their four years.”
Four of Vandy’s SEC matches will be at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex, with the team’s games against LSU, South Carolina and Auburn airing on the SEC Network. Vanderbilt’s conference opener comes on the road against LSU on Sept. 17. The Commodores will host Arkansas in their SEC home opener on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. before rounding out the month at Georgia and against Missouri at home.
VU will kick off October in Lexington, Ky. against Kentucky on Oct. 5. The later portion of the Dores’ SEC schedule could prove to be the team’s toughest stretch of the season, as they host 2016 SEC tournament champion Florida (Oct. 8) and venture to NCAA quarterfinalist South Carolina in Columbia (Oct. 15) before welcoming in-state rival Tennessee to West End on Oct. 19.
Vanderbilt defeated the Volunteers last season in double-overtime by a score of 3-2. Rising sophomore Kaylann Boyd secured the Dores’ game-winning goal in the 102nd minute, clinching the program’s 100th SEC win in school history and third overtime victory of the season.
After the Tennessee contest, Vandy travels to College Station for a 6 p.m. test against the Texas A&M Aggies. Last season, Vanderbilt earned a 2-0 shutout over the 14th-ranked Aggies, earning the club its second top-20 shutout victory under Ambrose.
The Commodores wrap up regular season play at home on Oct. 26 at 8 p.m., taking on the Auburn Tigers who closed out the 2016 season in the NCAA Elite Eight and ranked No. 8 nationally.
Vanderbilt will again aim for a top-10 finish in the SEC, which would qualifying the Dores for their third straight appearance in the SEC Tournament. That takes place in Orange Beach, Ala. from Oct. 31- Nov. 6.