The Vanderbilt Commodores are the unanimous #1 team in the country. After 5 weeks at #1 in TopDrawerSoccer’s rankings, the Coaches’ Poll finally agreed thanks to North Carolina losing to Wake Forest while Vanderbilt won at Alabama. It was a special win, too. The Commodores went to Tuscaloosa to take on the #8/#11 Crimson Tide, and they managed to win after trailing 1-0 within 20 minutes of kickoff.
The Alabama goal came from a long ball over the back line, who had gotten caught shifting too far to ball side.
Alexa Gianoplus made an aggressive move out of her goal, but her sprawling save attempt missed by inches in the 1v1 situation. Th lead would hold for most of the first half, but Vanderbilt had it level before halftime.
After Alabama was denied a PK ona coach’s challenge in the 25th minute, Coach Ambrose was rewarded for challenging a call in the Alabama penalty area. Reagan Pentz went up aggressively for a header and was kneed in the midsection by an Alabama defender who never saw her. The referee agreed with Coach Ambrose’s (and my) assessment that the contact was reckless and, as such, a foul. Courtney Jones cooly slammed the penalty kick into the back of the net with body control that would fool any goalkeeper on the planet. Her hips and plant foot were both squared to the right side of the goal, but she was able to lash the ball into the top left corner of the goal with plenty of power.
Vanderbilt had trailed for most of the match, but they were also up in shot 8 to 4 and had a similar share of shots on goal at 4 to 2. Both teams were throwing in heavy tackles and ready for the Top 10 matchup.
The Commodores grabbed the second half by the scruff and would not let Alabama disrupt their quest for an SEC regular season title and second-straight #1 overall seed in the SEC tournament. From halftime until the 65th minute, 6 of the 7 shots attempted were by Commodores. The 6th attempt was by Hinnenkamp. She had gotten isolated 1v1 and cut inside. The Alabama goalkeeper was expecting a pass to Sydney Watts, but the former SEC Freshman of the Year fired the Commodores into the lead all by herself.
The 2-1 score line would hold. The only dangerous moment was an Alabama shot that was blocked by Margo Matula and sent looping over the goal. Alabama would desperately challenge for a handball and penalty, but neither the arm or the hand ever made contact with the ball.
Another match with no possession data available, unfortunately. The consistency of 8 shot attempts in each half feels right for a team that has been very consistent in how they handle business this season. The early shooting flurry to start the second half exemplified their resolve and energy coming out of the break with the score level.
Sydney Watts has apparently hit a goal-scoring slump. She has failed to score in 2 of the last 3 matches, which accounts for all but 1 of her goalless performances. Of course, she has still found the back of the net 4 times in the last 5 outings. Watts is doing just fine.
Courtney Jones has stepped the attacking threat in her stead. The long-distance strike against Florida then the PK against Alabama were goals 5 and 6 on the season and 3 and 4 in SEC play. She has played a deeper role this season, often pushing into wide spaces behind the wide midfielders as they get up into the attack. It has been an interesting tactical adjustment, but certainly not one that can be argued with too strongly based on the team’s results.
With 10 players attempting a shot and 6 putting at least one on target, it exemplifies how difficult Vanderbilt is to defend. They have Watts up top along with Hinnenkamp, Hebert, and Pugh, but they are so quickly joined by Fullerton and Pentz from CAM that it often looks like a front 3. The wide players are always eager to get into the attack, too.
The comeback was season-altering in magnitude. This result was not a close scrape against a bad team like the 1-0 win at Missouri. Alabama actually moved up one spot in the Coaches’ Poll to #7 (technically, a tie for that spot) after the loss and a 3-0 win over Georgia earlier in the week. Vanderbilt is knocking on the door of their first SEC regular season title since 2018, and the 4th all-time. The Commodores have won the SEC regular season in 1993, 1994, and 2018. They have SEC tournament titles from 1993, 1994, 2002, and 20025. The Commodores are also looking to follow up their first ever NCAA #1 Overall Seed by claiming the maximum possible posteason hosting opportunities again.
As it relates to the SEC crown, the Commodores are 4 points clear of the South Carolina Gamecocks and Alabama Crimson Tide who are tied for second on 18 points. Vanderbilt’s last opponent is South Carolina in Nashville on November 1st. A win tonight would wrap the title up. A draw would also be enough if South Carolina and Alabama draw or loses their match. Even with a loss, I think a South Carolian loss and Alabama draw would have the trophy coming to West End.
Last Sunday, Texas helped the Commodores’ quest by playing South Carolina to a 1-1 draw. The Longhorns are 8-3-4 (3-2-3 SEC) for the season. Their only ranked nonconference victory was 1-0 in Forth Worth over TCU. The Horned Frogs were #19/#14 at the time and plummeted from the rankings. Against conference foes, Texas has lost at Arkansas (3-1), drawn against Tennessee (2-2), drawn at Florida (1-1), won at Ole Miss (2-0), won at Oklahoma (2-1), lost at Kentucky (3-2), won at home against LSU (4-1), and drawn with South Carolina in Austin (1-1).
Texas has scored 29 goals in 15 matches overall and 15 in 8 SEC matches. They have allowed 15 and 12, respectively. In conference matches, those totals (and averages, since every SEC has played the same number of games) rank 3rd in goals for and 11th in goals against. Vanderbilt has scored 49 goals overall and 21 (1st) in SEC play and conceded 10 and 3 (2nd). South Carolina leads the SEC in goals allowed at 2.
The Longhorns leading scorers are Amalia Villareal, Ava McDonald, Audrey Bryant, and Ashlyn Anderson. Villareal is the clearest threat with 8 goals while McDonald has a respectable 5 tallies. Bryant and Anderson are clearly secondary options with just 3 each. Two more Texas players have 2 goals. Villareal has been held much more in check by SEC opponents, who have given up just 4 goals to her. Only McDonald (3), Anderson (3), and Bryant (2) have multiple goals in SEC play.
McDonald leads the playmakers, too. She has 4 assists, and Bryant has setup 3 more goals. Kennedit Cotter also has a trio of helpers. The leaders in conference play are McDonald (3), Villareal (2), and Mya Brandon (2).
Bayliss Flynn has started every match in the Texas goal and only been off the pitch for 42 minutes. She has made all but 1 save for the Longhorns this year, but neither substitute allowed a goal. She has made 50 saves on 65 shots on goal for a 0.769 save percentage and a 1.03 goals against average. The GAA goes up slightly for conference matches at 1.50, but the save percentage is still at 0.739.
Vanderbilt’s prolific attack has 4 players in the top 8 of goals scored in SEC play. Sydney Watts leads the way at 6 while Megan Hinnenkamp, Mia Hebert, and Courtney Jones all have 4, which is tied for 5th most amongst SEC players. Olivia Stafford is tied for the assists lead at 5 and has no other Commodores in the top 10 of that category.
Alexa Gianoplus has the 2nd best save percentage in the league at 0.880 and is 2nd in goals against average at 0.38. She has made the T-4th fewest saves, too, due to the strength of the defense in front of her.
Tonight’s match has big stakes, and this team has risen to every challenge so far. From the sloppy, disjointed opening match they salvaged with a last-minute PK to the ugly win at Missouri to a rousing comeback at Alabama, this Commodores squad has earned their unanimous #1 ranking. The chance to wrap up the SEC regular season title with a match to play may be the challenge on the fans’ minds, but this team has needed no extra motivation to handle business thus far.
Kickoff from The Plex is scheduled for 7 PM Central. Tonight is Soctoberfest with a beer garden and 150 beer steins being given away. The first 400 fans will receive a free replica Vanderbilt soccer jersey, too. Tickets, just $10, are still available. If, like me, you will be unable to be in attendance, you canstream the match on SEC Network+.
