Vanderbilt Women’s Soccer (7-2-5) battled the Kentucky Wildcats (10-2-3) on Sunday evening, hoping to double down on the Commodores’ win over Kentucky Football 24 hours prior. Head coach Darren Ambrose’s club did just that, cruising to a 3-1 victory in Nashville and collecting its second straight SEC win.
Kentucky came out of the gates firing. Makala Woods won a touch near midfield and raced down Vanderbilt’s left wing, blitzing past several defenders before being fouled just feet in front of goalkeeper Sara Wojdelko. After a lengthy review of Jessica Hinton’s tackle, Woods was awarded a penalty kick, which she buried in the bottom-left corner of Vanderbilt’s net. In just 21 seconds of game time, Kentucky had taken a 1-0 lead.
In the fourth minute, Vanderbilt responded. Caroline Betts tactfully controlled the ball deep into Kentucky’s box and lifted a cross to Rachel Deresky. Deresky, while airborne, rifled the ball off Kentucky’s left goalpost. Despite the miss, Courtney Jones was there to finish, corralling the rebound and sneaking a goal past a diving Marzia Josephson to even the score at one apiece.
Minutes later, Vanderbilt came knocking on Kentucky’s door again. Following a Deresky free kick, Betts stood firm at the top of Kentucky’s box and blasted a shot toward Josephson’s left side. Reading the play well, Josephson secured the save before disaster could strike. However, the Commodores maintained their attack with the ensuing minutes seeing Betts & Co. dominate the time-of-possession game and apply steady pressure past Kentucky’s midfield. In the 16th minute, the Betts-Deresky tandem nearly converted for Vanderbilt, as Betts’s corner kick found its way to Deresky at the top of Kentucky’s box. The graduate student from Dunkirk, Md., rolled a shot past the Kentucky defense but was ultimately stifled by Josephson.
Following an extended period of back-and-forth soccer, Betts finally challenged Josephson with a light strike from the upper-left corner of Kentucky’s box. The junior’s attempt was the game’s first shot on goal in 13 minutes — a testament to the superb defense played in the latter part of the first half. In the 40th minute, Kentucky’s defense was too aggressive, as Katherine Truitt was given the game’s first yellow card for a rough tackle on Julianne Leskauskaus. Despite the foul occurring relatively close to Kentucky’s goal, the Vanderbilt offense did not score on the ensuing set-piece. The first half concluded with the game in a 1-1 tie.
Kentucky nearly scored at the beginning of the second half, as Makala Woods intercepted a ball and threaded a pass to an unmarked Mia Bookhard on Vanderbilt’s left wing. Bookhard’s shot soared toward Wojdelko, who glided to her left to make her second save of the game.
In the 53rd minute, Betts collided with a Kentucky midfielder in Vanderbilt territory, earning her a yellow card and rewarding Kentucky a free kick. Michelle Moskau’s pass, however, ricocheted out of bounds. Lightning struck for the Commodores on the counterattack. In the 55th minute, Betts heaved a cross to a leaping Sydney Watts in the direct center of Kentucky’s box. Watts, rising high, headed the ball over a contesting Josephson to give Vanderbilt a 2-1 lead.
Just moments later, Vanderbilt extended its lead. Addie Porter dazzled past her lone defender on Kentucky’s right-wing and threaded a high, bending ball just underneath Kentucky’s upper crossbar to put Vanderbilt up 3-1. After being nonexistent at the end of the first half, the Vanderbilt offense turned the game around in just two minutes of play.
Kentucky went down with a fight, though. In the 63rd minute, an unmarked Bookhard blasted a shot just right of Wojdelko’s right goalpost. Despite the fifth-year’s miss, Kentucky stayed on the offensive, showering Vanderbilt’s goalkeeper with two more shots on goal in the 64th and 65th minutes. The Vanderbilt backline ultimately rose to the challenge, deflecting such contests to maintain its 3-1 lead.
With time winding down, Vanderbilt flipped its game script, focusing on conservative play to secure its second SEC victory of the season. However, the Commodores maintained their previous intensity — so much so that Porter was penalized for an aggressive tackle in the 84th minute. Minutes later, Jones was flagged for a similar, unsportsmanlike tackle. Jones’s card marked Vanderbilt’s fourth of the game. Despite the disruptions, Vanderbilt’s defense was able to close out the 3-1 win with conviction.
Ambrose spoke highly of his team’s performance after the game.
“Our defensive presence has really been quite strong,” Ambrose said. “[The goals] were three of the best we’ve scored all year. We have a DNA in our program. We are going to play and knock you around and side to side.”
Vanderbilt Soccer will seek its eighth win of the season when it travels to Gainesville to face Florida on October 18th at 3 p.m. CDT.
