Vanderbilt Commodores (1-3-0)
at
Florida Gators (1-1-1)
Oct 18, 2020 • 5 p.m. CT
Dizney Soccer Stadium • Gainesville, Fla.
SEC Network+
Kyle Crooks (play-by-play), Matt Stubbington (analyst)
• Opening the second half of the regular season, Vanderbilt will go back on the road to visit the Florida Gators on Sunday afternoon in Gainesville. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network+
• This will be the 29th all-time meeting between Vanderbilt and Florida (Vanderbilt trails 28-3-1)
- First Meeting: 1995 (W, 2-0)
- Last Meeting: 09.29.19 (L, 0-1)
- Last Vanderbilt Win: 09.16.18 (2-1)
- Last Opponent Win: 09.29.19 (1-0)
- Last Draw: 10.10.04 (1-1 2OT)
• In his five-plus seasons, Darren Ambrose owns a 1-5 record against Florida with five of the six meetings decided by one goal. Three of the meetings between the two programs came when Florida was ranked inside the Top 10.
• Battling into overtime for the fifth time in the last seven meetings against South Carolina, Vanderbilt was called for a penalty in double overtime and the Gamecocks took advantage of the opportunity to win 2-1 in double OT. After a scoreless first half, South Carolina broke the ice in the opening minutes of the second half but Vanderbilt answered with a goal in the 75th minute to send the game to overtime thanks to Alex Wagner’s first collegiate goal.
• In the season opener against Kentucky, a Haley Hopkins brace was the difference in a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Wildcats. The victory came after Kentucky scored the first two goals of the game in the opening half to lead by a pair after 45 minutes. Four Dores — Leila Azari, Madiya Harriott, Amber Nguyen and Olivia Simmons — contributed with assists to the three goals in Vanderbilt’s win over Kentucky. While Hopkins scored twice, Blue Ellis notched the tying goal. Vanderbilt spent an astounding 41% of the match attacking in Kentucky’s defensive zone. Conversely, UK spent only 7% in Vanderbilt’s.
• Across Vanderbilt’s three losses to Tennessee, Missouri and South Carolina, four of the five opponent goals have come from set pieces with Tennessee scoring on a corner kick, Missouri tallying twice from the direct result of free kicks and South Carolina winning it on the PK.
• Now in his sixth season leading Vanderbilt soccer, Darren Ambrose has guided one of the best five-year runs in program history. The Dores have amassed a 62-36-10 record and 30-19-7 SEC mark during his tenure. Ten of those wins were over ranked opponents. Vanderbilt has three appearances in the NCAA Tournament, an SEC regular season championship and an East Division championship under his leadership. Ambrose is the first Vanderbilt head coach in 21 years to have three consecutive double-digit win seasons (2017-19).
• All four of Vanderbilt’s games thus far in 2020 have been decided in the second half or later and have been one-goal games. All three of Vanderbilt’s goals against Kentucky in the season opener came after the 53rd minute with the first two separated by just 6:11 of game action. Last season, nine of the 14 wins were decided after halftime, and five of those wins were away from West End.
