NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt soccer team walked away from Sunday afternoon’s conference matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats with its first draw of the season, 2-2. A tale of two halves, early goals by Kacy Scarpa and Nia Dorsey gave the `Dores a quick lead against the Wildcats.
Off a deep shot outside the 18-yard box, Scarpa’s first goal of the season gave VU the 1-0 advantage. The Commodores extended their lead to two goals off a set piece. Lydia Simmons’ corner kick found senior defender Sasha Gray up in the attacking third to help generate scoring opportunities. Gray’s shot turned into an assist as Dorsey headed the ball into the back left corner of the goal in the 12th minute.
Starting her first competition in goal for the Commodores, freshman Lauren Demarchi’s leadership and skill was tested throughout the second half as UK surged back into the contest. Maintaining possession of the ball for the majority of the half, the `Dores came up with huge blocks by Tina De Zeeuw and Nia Dorsey to hold the score in the black and gold’s favor.
With momentum building, the Cats netted a pair of goals of their own to tie up the match. Marissa Bosco and Zoe Swift leveled the score in the 48th and 59th minutes respectively as Kentucky outshot the Commodores 17-6 on the day.
In a physical competition, both teams duked it out in the first and second overtime periods, but neither could capture a game-winning goal. UK nearly solidified their first conference win of the year, however the ball was found to be dribbled out of bounds prior to Tanya Samarzich’s header into the back of the net.
With a minute left in the second overtime period, Vanderbilt found itself knocking on the UK goal line not once, but twice. Danae O’Halloran served a cross to Simmons, who then blasted an attempt that was blocked at the goal line by UK defender Kelly Novak.
At less than 40 seconds left, Novak’s block ricocheted out of the box to Grace Jackson who then struck the ball beautifully, sailing towards the upper left corner. The Wildcat’s goalkeeper, Evangeline Soucie, came up with the save of the match as the freshman jumped and pushed the ball just above the left corner of the UK goal to hold the score at 2-2.
With the draw, Vanderbilt owns an 8-5-1 record and hits the road next weekend to face a 9-4-1 Missouri team on Oct. 14th at 6:30 p.m.
