NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For the first time in program history, the Vanderbilt soccer team goes into the NCAA Tournament seeded.
Head coach Darren Ambrose and his squad gathered inside the McGugin Center on Monday to watch as Vanderbilt and the number 16 were written into the 48-team College Cup bracket. The Commodores (9-5-1) will face Penn State or Alabama State at 6 p.m. CT on May 1 in Cary, North Carolina.
“It’s a big time opportunity for us to make statements,” Ambrose said. “It’s been on the natural ladder of incremental improvements for this group of seniors and leaving their legacy and their mark is getting beyond that second round.”
Vanderbilt has won its division in the SEC before, won a regular-season conference title and an SEC Tournament championship – the latter coming in November after a four-game run capped an unforgettable week in Orange Beach, Alabama.
Mark the date, set your alarm.
🗓️ May 1
🕖 6 p.m. CT
📍 Cary, N.C.#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/d6RX77IEfN— Vanderbilt Soccer (@VandySoccer) April 19, 2021
But Vandy’s chance to make a possible national championship run had to wait five months as the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the start of the NCAA Tournament until the end of April. The Dores played three exhibition matches and three more regular-season contests this spring in leading up to the postseason.
Vanderbilt went 1-1-1 in those three matches, including a scoreless draw at No. 7 Duke and a 3-2 overtime loss to No. 17 Memphis.
“All things considered, like every athlete in the country, once you see your name on the screen and you know where you’re going next I think it will provide a little bit of a lift and a spark for us which, frankly, we need,” Ambrose said. “It’s been very stop-start for us and we need to find a rhythm.
“I think at the moment, knowing what we got ahead of us gives us a little bit of a fresh start. We’ll make the journey for one game and put everything into that game and then maybe get to play some more. But at the moment it’s just nice to see your name on the screen in the top 16.”
Penn State sports a 10-2-1 record and went 9-1-1 inside the Big Ten. Its season was bookended with a road loss to Rutgers on Feb. 19 and a home loss to Iowa in the conference tournament.
Alabama State went 8-2-2 overall and 6-0-1 against the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The Hornets advanced to the NCAA Tournament thanks a 3-1 win in penalty kicks over Grambling State in the SWAC Tournament final.
The Commodores will have the slight advantage of watching Penn State and Alabama State battle April 28 for the right to face Vandy.
“Either way when you get to the NCAA Tournament in the second round you’re playing a good team. It doesn’t matter,” Ambrose said. “If you go by form you’d probably expect to play Penn State, but it’s the NCAA Tournament and stranger things have happened and we’ll be prepared for whichever one we’re going to be playing.”
Officially official.
We’ve earned a national seed for the first time in program history.#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/CIbYZNGWgv
— Vanderbilt Soccer (@VandySoccer) April 19, 2021
Vanderbilt will be appearing in its fourth NCAA Tournament in a row and 11th overall. The Commodores have never advanced past the second round.
A win on May 1 would change that and prolong a season unlike any other.
“I think it’s been the longest season in the history of seasons and I give a ton of credit to our kids,” Ambrose said. “When they’ve shown up for training they’ve had to drag themselves there at times, and I completely understand why. With the length of this, they have shown up pretty much every day.
“We’ve tried to adjust the calendar and shorten things and change routines and they’ve responded very well.”
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com.
Follow him @MrChadBishop.
