NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s soccer team suffered its first loss of the season Sunday night, walking away from a tough match against Lipscomb with a 2-0 defeat.
“We just didn’t have any urgency in the box,” said head coach Darren Ambrose. “We have six or seven players that were rotating in and none of them have played in a competitive collegiate game. Those players are still learning, and you can’t rush that. Until we figure that out, we’re going to be making some of the same errors.”
The Commodores had several early opportunities including a fantastic run by defender Danae O’Halloran, which resulted in a well placed cross that forced the Bisons’ goalkeeper to abandon goal.
While crosses and corners were aplenty, it was shots that the Commodores lacked as Lipscomb led 3 shots to zero before achieving its first goal of the outing.
A momentary lapse of defense proved costly for the Commodores as Olivia Doak drilled the ball it into the upper left corner of the goal. Vandy goalkeeper Kaitlyn Fahrner leaped, hoping to put a hand on the ball, but the ball was placed just out of reach as LU took the 1-0 lead in the 21st minute.
Ambrose and his staff subbed regularly throughout the evening, keeping players bodies and minds locked into the game. Friday, against Miami of Ohio, eight newcomers took the field for the first time sporting the black and gold. Transfer Allie Bruder joined the crew Sunday night, making her Commodore debut in the 39th minute.
Just before the period came to a close, the redshirt freshman forward nearly leveled the game, however her first shot as a Commodore sailed wide. The first half ended with both teams tied in attempts, 4-4.
The Bisons began the second half with fast pace offense, possessing the ball and making counter attacks off Vandy errors. At 15 minutes left on the clock, the LU offense began bombarding Fahrner in goal, forcing the redshirt junior to make back to back saves on three shots.
Vanderbilt, still looking to tie the match, had a surge in offense with a little less than 10 minutes remaining. However Lipscomb managed to deflect three corner kicks and form a counter attack following a Bison clear.
With predominately most of the Vandy squad in the final third, trying capitalize off the corner kicks, the Lipscomb clear found leading scorer, Doak. One on one with Fahrner, and the goal abandoned, Doak lobbed the ball over Fahrner’s head from around the 30-yard mark. The ball looked as though it might go over, but top spun into the upper 90 of the Commodore goal to secure the 2-0 victory.
“We committed everyone forward to try to tie the game up. With seven to eight minutes to go, you’re just trying to find a goal, which means you throw everything at them that you can. There’s no point leaving players back, because at that point you’re losing players. Fair play to them.”
Following the loss, the ‘Dores host Florida State, Thursday, August 25th at 7:30 with a 1-1-0 record. The home opener is free to admission and will be Back to School Night. Academic Packs (pencil case, ruler etc) will be give out to the first 250 grade school kids. There will also be a drawing for a 40″ Smart TV for Vanderbilt students.
