NASHVILLE – Following the conclusion of each Vanderbilt soccer game in 2018, head coach Darren Ambrose has stuck to a theme: He singles out a player who delivered the night’s impact performance and gifts them a pair of miniature golden boxing gloves. On each pair of gloves, Ambrose writes the player’s initials, their opponent and the date of the match. It’s a simple act of recognition that has spread to different corners of the Commodores’ locker room.
The miniature gloves mirror a full-sized pair that sits in Ambrose’s office at McGugin Center. On those, the coach has written the name of each game’s designated player. The symbolism represents what has become a theme of Vanderbilt’s season in 2018.
“It has nothing to do with who played 90 minutes or who played 25 minutes,” Ambrose said. “It’s about who made a difference. The gloves are a visual of what we’re about and what we’ve tried to be about this year. We’ve embodied the word fight.”
The gloves in Ambrose’s offense have become littered with dates and initials, a blow-by-blow account of a seemingly remarkable season brewing in Nashville. No. 25 Vanderbilt (10-1, 3-0 SEC) is on the verge of history as it prepares to face Georgia at 4 p.m. CT on Sunday in Nashville. The Commodores, who sit atop the SEC standings with nine points, currently ride a 10-game win streak and could tie the program record for consecutive wins (11) by defeating the Bulldogs this weekend.
But Ambrose is less concerned with win streaks and more concerned with reaching his team’s ultimate goal of an SEC title. Thus far, Vanderbilt has played the brand of soccer it needs to get there.
“With a young team, we’ve wanted to focus on what they can control,” Ambrose said. “The theme we’ve focused on is fight. It’s another way of being tough, another way of being committed, another way of working hard. We say, at the end of each game, the goal is to have no regrets on how we’ve played.”
Vanderbilt should have few regrets with its performance this season. Since dropping a 1-0 game at No. 10 Florida State on August 16, the Dores have strung together 10 straight wins, their most since winning 11 in a row in 2005. That stretch has included SEC victories over Alabama, Florida and Missouri; Vanderbilt’s win over the Gators was its first since 1997. In all, the Dores have gone more than a month without a loss and sit just three wins shy of their 2017 win total.
During the Commodores’ current win streak, they have outscored opponents 25-6 thanks in part to superb defense. Goalkeeper Lauren Demarchi, in particular, has allowed just two goals and boasts an SEC-best .917 save percentage alongside a 0.35 goals against average, which ranks second in the league. The likes of Haley Hopkins (seven goals) and Kaylann Boyd (six) have fueled the Dores’ offense, as well.
A mix of young and old have made for an effective recipe in black and gold, Ambrose said.
“Our captains, Gabby Rademaker and Lauren Demarchi, have done a very good job,” Ambrose said. “But right with them, the junior class has excelled, like Hannon Eberts, Nia Dorsey and others. Within themselves, they’ve worked incredible hard, done their job and set the tone. Then underneath, you see sophomores like Madison Elwell and Leila Azari. There’s this trickle-down effect, and everyone is plugging holes.”
An SEC title remains a distant goal for Vanderbilt, which last season reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006. The Dores’ seven remaining SEC games include road trips to Tennessee, Auburn and Ole Miss ahead of the SEC Tournament, which begins on Oct. 28. That’s why Ambrose harps on the fight instead of the streak; Vanderbilt’s season will ultimately be judged on how it ends, not a remarkable midseason stretch.
But Ambrose also senses a special quality in his locker room.
“What we’ve learned is, this is a tough and resilient group,” Ambrose said. “They don’t believe they’re ever out of a game, which is an incredible quality to have. There’s a quality to them, a commitment to each other and how hard they work. This is just one of those teams.”
Zac Ellis is the Writer and Digital Media Editor for Vanderbilt Athletics.
