The Commodores (4-6, 0-1 AAC) bounced back from an 8-20 loss to James Madison by beating the Rider Broncs 20-13 on March 18 at the Plex in Nashville. This was Vanderbilt’s first win at home of the season after losing the previous four, including a 13-9 effort against the Louisville Cardinals. Four Commodores notched three or more goals: Kemper Robinson (5), Jaime Biskup (5), Nancy Halleron (4), and Bailey Lower (3).
The first half of the game was a shootout, with the Broncs maintaining the lead for most of the first quarter before Vanderbilt pulled in front heading into the second quarter. A flurry of goals followed with the two teams exchanging scores — the Commodores would score a go-ahead, but the Broncs would quickly equalize.
Vanderbilt pulled away towards the end of the second quarter and never looked back. Notably, the third quarter included a three-minute stretch where Lower scored three consecutive goals for Vanderbilt.
First quarter
Rider won the opening draw and capitalized on a free position to make it 1-0 Rider just 45 seconds into the game. Kemper Robinson answered with an unassisted effort within a minute to even the game back up. A minute-long offensive by Rider was thwarted with an impressive save by Vanderbilt’s goalie Molly Joyce, but the Broncs retrieved the deflected ball and made it 2-1 shortly after.
Jaime Biskup leveled the field with a bounce shot placed adeptly in the top-right corner of Rider’s goal, but it was not long before Rider scored another of their own to make it 3-2 just 5 minutes into the game.
Rider’s keeper notched a save in Vanderbilt’s next two possessions, but couldn’t stop Molly Krestinski in the third go-around — with the junior finding the top-right corner to make it 3-3. Robinson gave Vanderbilt its first lead of the day with four minutes left in the first quarter by netting a second goal to make it 4-3 for the Commodores.
An equalizer by the Broncs was disallowed because of a foul, and the first quarter ended in a 4-3 advantage for Vanderbilt.
Second quarter
A bronc opened the second quarter with a gutsy goal from free position to make it 4-all, and a hard foul by Elise Bialecki soon-after landed her a yellow card and put Vanderbilt at a personnel disadvantage for the next two minutes. The penalty kill was no problem for Vanderbilt, however, as Biskup notched her second of the night to give Vanderbilt the edge, 5-4. The Broncs quickly answered with a fifth goal of their own.
Robinson completed her hattrick five minutes into the second quarter to give Vanderbilt the lead yet again. Yet another equalizer found the back of the net for the Broncs to make it 6-all. Strong defense by Rider promised a dangerous counterattack, but its coach called a timeout to regroup instead. In the meantime, Vanderbilt subbed in Emma Robinson at goalkeeper for Joyce.
A four-minute scoring drought was ended by Nancy Halleron, who reclaimed the lead for Vanderbilt 7-6. Robinson tacked on an eighth goal for Vanderbilt before Biskup completed a hattrick of her own to make it 9-6. Krestinski tacked on another, but the Broncs answered quickly to make it 10-7 heading into the half.
Third quarter
Emma Robinson opened the second half with a tough save and Vanderbilt’s counterattack was successful, with a goal by Kate Bradley bringing Vanderbilt’s total to 11. The Broncs soon made it 11-8, but Halleron got the goal back with her second of the evening. Rider staged a comeback with back-to-back scores and cut Vanderbilt’s lead to 12-10. The Broncs nearly cut the lead to 1 from a free position, but Emma Robinson made the save. Halleron completed Vanderbilt’s third hattrick of the game to lift the Commodores to a 13-10 lead.
First-year Bailey Lower took over in the third quarter, scoring three consecutive goals for Vanderbilt in just three minutes to offset two scores by the Broncs in the same time and make it 16-12. Halleron matched Robinson’s total of four goals on the night to give Vanderbilt a 17-12 lead heading into the break.
Fourth quarter
Biskup tallied a fourth to match Robinson and Halleron thanks to an impressive unassisted effort in front of Rider’s net. Robinson slotted a fifth to pull ahead of her teammates and give Vanderbilt a comfortable 19-12 lead. Biskup tallied her fifth with a shifty effort to offset a goal by Rider and make it 20-13 — this marked the final score of the night.
The Commodores will face their next challenge on March 29 against the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida.
