The Vanderbilt Commodores (9-8, 3-3) played on of their best games of the season and defeated Old Dominion (8-9, 2-5) 16-6 on April 26. With this win, Vanderbilt earned the fourth and final spot in the AAC playoffs and will face James Madison in the semifinal round.
April 26 was Senior Day, with Vandebilt honoring seniors Cate Bradley, Josie Ward, Kemper Robinson, Elise Bialecki, Sammy Nuchow, Jackie Nuchow, Cooper Garrett, Nancy Halleron and Molly Finlay, as well as graduates Jaime Biskup, Katie Poretsky, Jackie Norsworthy, Brooke Baker, McKenna Harden and Maddie Barkate.
“You literally could not script a better day,” head coach Beth Hewitt said after the game. “Everybody from Jaime [Biskup] starting us off to Nancy [Halleron] and all the seniors. The pace they were playing at from the moment they touched the ball, I was like ‘it’s gonna be a good day.’”
Biskup led all scorers in the match with four goals and two assists, while Baker and Bradley also recorded hat tricks. Anna Taraboletti led the game in assists with three and Sammy Nuchow added another two to the team’s astounding total of 10 assists.
Vanderbilt also dominated the draw controls, winning 15 to Old Dominion’s 11, in a stat the Commodores previously struggled with. Hewitt gave junior Katherine Ernst the nod as the main draw specialist four games ago and she has won the draw battle in three of those.
“[The draw team works] so well as a unit and if you ever watch them on the sidelines, they’re each other’s biggest cheerleaders,” said Hewitt. “The communication that [Ernst] has had with Bailey [Lower] specifically has been pretty awesome. They work really hard and that’s really what the draw comes down to is who wants it more.”
First quarter
Vanderbilt gained possession to start the match and immediately drew a free-position shot. Baker sat on the left side of the fan, beat her defenders, and drew another free position shot, which she buried. Baker’s 39th goal of the season gave the Commodores an immediate 1-0 lead.
Vanderbilt then won the next draw and, after empty trips from both teams, Robinson raced down the floor and found an uncontested Bradley toeing the crease, who nailed her shot and extended the Commodores’ lead to two.
With a little over 9 minutes left, Old Dominion finally got in the scoring column. Leading scorer Sarah Murrell cashed in on a free-position shot, cutting Vanderbilt’s lead in half. Baker got the goal right back for Vanderbilt, scoring her second goal in the next possession.
The next draw control featured a long scuffle with both teams fighting for possession. Finally,’ Sylvia Mayo secured the ball for the Monarchs and had a clear path to the goal until Harden’s poke knocked the ball away, saving a possible goal and giving Vanderbilt possession.
With 4:32 left in the quarter, Vanderbilt forced a turnover and had the numbers to attack, but Finlay got laid out by Payton Kisling, earning Kisling a yellow card. Later in the possession, Halleron’s shot would hit the left post, then the back of goalie Brynn Bowen’s leg and in, extending Vanderbilt’s lead to 4-1.
Old Dominion had a chance to break Vanderbilt’s 2-0 scoring run with a free position shot at the two-minute mark, but goalie Molly Joyce got on a knee for the save, thwarting the Monarchs’ attempt. Old Dominion had one more free position chance with ten minutes left, but Joyce once again swallowed the attempt, keeping the score at 4-1 to end the quarter.
Second quarter
The Commodores started the second like they ended the first, with a huge stop on defense. Two stops and a poke check later, Vanderbilt raced to their offensive zone, where Halleron would earn her second goal of the game thanks to a dish from Biskup. Biskup was rewarded for her selflessness by earning a goal in the next possession. The onslaught didn’t stop there, with Finlay scoring the third Commodore goal within the first three minutes of the quarter. Vanderbilt’s lead sat at 7-1 after the early offensive explosion.
Biskup really took control from there, scoring two more quick goals — both assisted by Anna Taraboletti — and earning a hat trick inside the first 8 minutes of the second quarter. Bradley earned her second goal of the game a few minutes later off a Sammy Nuchow assist and then Taraboletti found Biskup for a third time in the quarter, marking Biskup’s fourth goal and Taraboletti’s third assist. This second wave of goals led to a double-digit lead, the scoreboard reading 11-1.
“It’s been a really long journey,” Biskup said, “and I’m not ready to be done. I play with a lot of purpose and a lot of dignity in terms of my teammates and my friends. Just to have them around, I know I have to perform for them and myself. That thrived me through the whole entire [second] quarter.”
Finlay’s second goal — from Sammy Nuchow’s second assist — capped off an 8-0 second quarter in favor of the Commodores, who led 12-1 at halftime.
Third quarter
The Monarchs finally broke their scoreless streak by opening the half with a free-position goal by Mayo. Robinson earned the goal right back, scoring unassisted on the ensuing possession. Bradley later found the net for the ‘Dores, earning herself a hat trick, with Biskup earning the assist.
Old Dominion scored its second goal of the quarter from Katie Pfeiler with four minutes left, Lydia Laney earning the assist. Halleron struck right back with an unassisted goal, returning Vanderbilt’s lead to 12. The quarter ended with Vanderbilt up 15-3.
Fourth quarter
Old Dominion struck first again in the fourth with Pfeiler striking for a goal. Corryn Jones then added another for the Monarchs, cutting Vanderbilt’s lead to 15-5.
With about eight minutes left in the match, Baker sniped a goal from way outside the fan, earning herself a hat trick — the third Commodore to do it on the day. Old Dominion struck right back with a goal from Callie Culhane to return the deficit to 10.
Eventually, both teams ended scoreless and the final buzzer sounded as the Commodores embraced, leaving the ‘Plex for the last time this year with their season extended.
Vanderbilt will face No. 1 seed James Madison from Norfolk, Virginia in the AAC semifinals on Thursday, May 1. First draw is scheduled for 3:30 CDT.
