The Vanderbilt Commodores kick off the 2026-27 sports calendar on August 12th when they welcome the Southern Methodist University Mustangs to West End. The majority of the roster will be very familiar to any fans who watched last season’s team. Head Coach Darren Ambrose will have 67% of his minutes played back from last season’s #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The most significant losses were SEC Goalkeeper of the Year Sara Wojdelko, All-SEC defender Hannah McLaughlin, and midfield mainstay
Maci Teater who all ran out of eligibility. That trio accounted for 5,726 of the 7,882 minutes lost. Forwards Susanna Soderman (300 MP) and Vivian Akyirem (769 MP) along with midfielder Brooke Dardano (527 MP) exhausted their eligibility. The transfer losses were sophomore defender Ava Slay (39 MP), freshman midfielder Ava Sherrer (46 MP), freshman midfielder Foley Robertson, freshman forward Ellett Smith (430 MP), and freshman forward Caitlin Chase (45 MP).
They added three transfers. Forward/midfielder Megan Hinnenkamp joins from conference foe Florida. Lydia Ungashick was at SMU for two seasons. Goalkeeper Layla Armas has come across the country from UCLA. The freshman class is a massive 8-player class. There is 1 goalkeeper, 1 forward, 2 defenders, and 4 midfielders in the bunch. We will get to what each of them bring in their respective position previews.
You all should know by now that I start with goalkeepers because I am/was one. I also include the defenders since the two position groups generally have the least rotation and least variability along with minimal information about non-starters.
Goalkeepers
For the first time since 2020, Vanderbilt does not have a goalkeeper returning who started multiple games the previous season. In 2019, Vanderbilt used a first half/second half rotation of seniors Lauren Demarchi and Taiana Tolleson. Sarah Fuller stepped up and started every regular season and SEC Tournament match but was ultimately usurped by Kate Devine for the NCAA Tournament match at Penn State. The Devine-Wojdelko transition was an interesting battle of injuries and two very good goalkeepers. The new starter will have a clean break from the past with no former starters on the roster.
The only college start by a current Commodore was Graduate Alexa Gianoplus against Auburn. The opportunity arose when Wojdelko was given a red card in the 90th minute of the previous match at Texas. She played all 90 minutes and made 6 saves. She played 13 minutes against Austin Peay (1 save) and 33 minutes at Tennessee Tech (2 saves). She has not allowed a goal as a Commodore and made 9 total saves in 140 minutes which also 4 minutes against ETSU in 2022. She would be my pick to start with no more indications from preseason since the only game open to the public was the Black-Gold scrimmage where only the two newcomers participated.
The interesting part about Wojdelko’s red card was Kennedie Marchand coming on to finish that match then having Gianoplus start the Auburn match. She would allow a goal via penalty kick in her 43 seconds of action due to a Melania Fullerton foul on a corner kick. Marchand transferred to Vanderbilt prior to last season after spending an actionless freshman season at Maryland.
The two newcomers to the goalkeeper room are junior Layla Armas and freshman Kellyane Dumas. Armas comes to Vanderbilt from UCLA where she saw no action. UCLA did play two goalkeepers, too, so she was not in line for significant minutes with both of them returning. Dumas played for CF Montreal’s academy and has been called up to youth teams for Canada at least twice. In 2024, she was part of their U-15’s CONCACAF Championship. I was not able to find any details about whether she played. She will also be in a U-17 Camp from August 13th to August 19th, which would preclude her from at least the ETSU match for Vanderbilt.
At this point, I would expect Gianoplus to get the start. Armas being 3rd on the depth chart at UCLA does not scream “impact transfer.” Gianoplus started over Marchand last season against Auburn. Dumas certainly seems talented based on the national team callups, but I would be surprised if she grabs the reigns game 1 as a freshman.
Defenders
Hannah McLaughlin may be gone, but Mary Beth McLaughlin was only 40 minutes played behind her older sister at 2,076. Mary Beth also scored 2 goals and had 4 assists, which is impressive as part of a back 3. The other side of the back 3 was Margo Matula who also returns and played 2,052 minutes. Those two will be starting and play at or near an All-SEC level just as they did last season. Their play will be key in helping the new goalkeeper transition to the starting role. My guess would be that Mary Beth slides to the middle of the back 3 to replace her sister.
The third spot could be an interesting conversation. It could go a few different ways. Of the returners, only sophomore Alexis Smith is a true center back type. Both graduate Grace Freeman and senior Adysen Armenta are fullbacks or midfielders. They both played primarily as wide midfielders, but they also saw stints in the back three. Most of that action in defense was when games were either out of hand in Vanderbilt’s favor or very late in the contest when an opposing team was trying to preserve a lead or draw and was parking the bus. Then Armenta and Freeman provided a more attacking option that had the freedom to break the normal shape and get forward a bit more.
The other two players listed as defenders are freshmen Allison Kleiner and Nina Laba. Kleiner was the only player who made an impact on me in the Black-Gold scrimmage. She was playing at LCB and very much looked the part. It would not surprise me at all if she starts there against SMU. With a jersey re-patching issue keeping the team from using this year’s kits, the numbers were jumbled. I did not recognize Laba. However, TopDrawerSoccer.com actually rates her as a 4* while Kleiner was a 3*.
If I had to guess who starts besides McLaughlin and Matula, it would be Smith. It would not surprise me at all if it was Kleiner, Laba, or even Freeman. There may be a logjam in wide midfield that sees her shifted to the back line. Normally, ambiguity in the defense could be a concern, but this is a situation where there are two somewhat known good options in Freeman and Smith, so if one of the freshmen takes the spot then they are surely ready.
