Vanderbilt takes down Jacksonville in shutout fashion

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Vanderbilt defeated Jacksonville, 3-0, to wrap up its Florida road trip on Sunday at Southern Oak Stadium and earn its first victory of the 2018 season.

The Commodores (1-1) came out aggressive from the start and outshot Jacksonville, 19-1, over 90 minutes of play. Nine of those shots registered on goal, while the Dolphins (0-2) managed just a single shot on goal against VU’s defense.

The Dores dominated possession throughout the game and kicked the scoring off on a set piece in the 18th minute. Olivia Simmons got the play started with a throw-in all the way to box, which Haley Hopkins flicked on to Madison Elwell. Elwell finished the play off with a shot into the lower left-hand side of the goal. While the rest of the half remained scoreless, the Dores held possession for the majority of the time.

Vanderbilt put its foot on the gas in the second half and got its second goal of the game when Leila Azari set up Simmons with a cross to the right side of the box. Simmons turned and fired it right past Jacksonville’s goalie at the near post in the 67th minute.

Azari threatened for the entire game down the right-hand side of field. It was another great service from Azari after Carline Saltmarsh fed a clever ball behind the Dolphins’ back line.  Azari’s first-time cross found Kaylann Boyd at the far post, where she tapped it in for a 3-0 lead in the 75th minute.

Azari finished with two assists, while Boyd, Elwell and Simmons all earned their first goals of the season.

Vanderbilt’s defense proved to be stifling in allowing just a single Jacksonville shot for the entire 90 minutes.

Lauren Demarchi got the start in goal and after recording a career-high five saves against Florida State, she only had to make one save against Jacksonville. Taiana Tolleson entered the game for Demarchi in the 72nd minute to record a little action.

Vanderbilt won’t return to game action until the program’s home opener later this week. Miami (Fla.) comes to visit Nashville in the Music City Invitational on Aug. 24, and the game is slated to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. CT.