Oct. 22, 2008
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. –Vanderbilt soccer will look to make a final push for the Southeastern Conference tournament this week with games against Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
VU faces the Rebels in the regular season home finale on Thursday at 7 p.m. and will then take on the Bulldogs Sunday at 1 p.m. in Starkville.
The Commodores are 8-7-1 overall and in 10th place in the Southeastern Conference standings with a 2-6-0 league mark. VU lost two games on the road last weekend at LSU and Arkansas, both by one goal.
The team has battled with injuries the entire year, including the loss of senior midfielder Katie Schulz, who suffered a knee injury in the win over Tennessee on Oct. 12 and will miss the remainder of the season. Two other starters from last season, Mary Rachel Reynolds and Taylour Claxton have missed significant action this year as well.
The top eight teams in the SEC standings make the postseason tournament in Orange Beach, Ala., on Nov. 5-9. Vanderbilt is two games out of eighth place in the league with three games left in the season.
Ole Miss is 5-9-2 overall and 3-5-0 in conference action. The Rebels are one match ahead of Vanderbilt in ninth place in the standings and enter Thursday’s contest having lost four in a row. Each of the four losses have been by a goal including back-to-back 1-0 losses to Tennessee and Georgia last weekend in Oxford. Senior Jennifer Hance leads the team in scoring with six goals and an assist (13 points), while senior goalkeeper Megan Vickery has seen much of the action in net with a 1.11 goals against average in 10 games.
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series with a 4-1-4 record. The teams have tied four of the last five times they have met. The only time their was a victor in that span was in 2006 when the Commodores won 2-0 in Nashville.
Mississippi State is 5-12 overall and 0-8 in conference play entering a matchup at Kentucky on Thursday. Their last win came against Southern Miss on Sept. 21. The Bulldogs lost to Georgia (1-0) and Tennessee (2-1) last weekend. Freshman Tarah Henderson leads the team with four goals, while junior goalkeeper Taryn Holland sports a 1.76 goals against average to lead the defense. The Franklin, Tenn., native has three shutouts on the year and six in three seasons as the starter.
Vanderbilt holds a 9-1 all-time series lead and has won the last five meetings dating back to the 2004 season. The Bulldogs lone win was a 2-1 decision in the 2002 campaign.
After the two matches against teams from the Magnolia state, VU will close out the regular season at Kentucky on Oct. 31. The Wildcats are 3-11-2 overall and 1-6-1 in conference play.
Tomorrow’s contest marks the final home game for seniors Taylor Ryer, Katie Schulz and Amy Wilcox.
