We have survived the national nightmare that exists between May/June and August every year as we all pine for college sports to return. Vanderbilt’s soccer team gets the action started tonight at home against SMU. Having already broken down the different positions groups (goalkeepers and defenders, midfielders, and forwards), how does it all come together for a program that earned its first #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament?
It is always a bit presumptuous to assume role players will surely be
replaced or improved upon off hand. Vanderbilt has pretty clear answers to fill each role vacated except the massive hole at goalkeeper. It is not impossible that one of the four options previously discussed steps in and provides stellar work between the sticks, but replacing the SEC Goalkeeper of the Year one for one seems unlikely.
The other two major losses were midfielder Maci Teater and defender Hannah McLaughling. It helps when the midfield will still almost certainly be made of a trio of players who all started 20+ matches and had 1,499+ minutes played on the season. Defensively, Mary Beth McLaughlin and Margo Matula both played over 2,000+ minutes and started all but 1 match combined (Matula missed one start), so essentially their improvement needs to fill whatever gap there is between H. McLaughlin and her replacement while also shifting the replacement to one of the outside center back spots.
When a team returns 67.5% of the minutes played and 8 players with 18+ starts, it suggests success can be sustainable if not surpassed. They return 37 of 49 goals (75.5%) and 35 of 44 assists (79.5%), which includes the contributions of the SEC Forward of the Year Sydney Watts, All-SEC First Team midfielder Courtney Jones, and a pair of All-SEC Freshman in Raegan Pentz and Olivia Stafford. Matula (2023), McLaughlin (2024), Ella Eggleston (2023), Adysen Armenta (2023 at Texas A&M) were also All-SEC Freshman team members in their respective seasons, so they are players who have likely not peaked. Megan Hinnenkamp was SEC Co-Freshman of the Year in 2023 at Florida, too.
With more than a few grains of salt because I have not investigated additions/losses for each opponent, the 2026 schedule is going to offer a fair bit of challenge while not overwhelming them early. The nonconference schedule includes 2 conference champions in Tennessee Tech and Xavier. Rice also made the American Conference championship game. Memphis, also in the American, managed to beat Vanderbilt as part of a 17-1-3 season where they reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament where they were elimited by the same team that would end Vanderbilt’s run, TCU.
For this season, Memphis is the only non-conference opponent ranked by TopDrawer Soccer. They come in at #16. The conference slate has #25 Georgia and #23 South Carolina. Squads like Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M should also pose a strong threat. The United Soccer Coaches Poll has some variances with Georgia at #19, Memphis at #21, and Tennessee at #24 with Xavier and South Carolina also receiving votes.
The Dores are ranked #5 by both outlets. That level of expectation is very new to the program. I certainly think they can live up to the hype.
To narrow the focus for tonight’s match, SMU has a lot to replace. They only return 6,496 of 17,816 minutes played. Returning production is no better at 7 of 25 goals (28%) and 6 of 26 assists (23%). The only returners with more 1,000 minutes played are defender Hali Hartman (1,681 minutes), goalkeeper Aubrey Brown (1303 minutes), and midfielder Lindsay Nicholson (1,170 minutes). Vanderbilt benefited from the transfers leaving the Mustangs when Lydia Ungashick committed to the Commodores after starting 17 of 18 matches, playing 1,358 minutes, and contributing 3 goals and an assist.
SMU went hard into the portal to try and shore up their roster. They brought in 7 transfers this offseason alone. The most important additions are probably midfielder Olivia Silcox from Michigan State where she played in 16 games (11 starts), forward Kaylee Noble from Texas A&M where she played in all 17 matches (11 starts) with 4 goals and 3 assists, and defender Ella DeMott from Iowa State where she played in all 17 matches (16 starts) with 3 goals as a team captain. DeMott is more familiar to Vanderbilt fans by her maiden name, Zimmerman. She spent her first two years on West End and was involved in 27 matches with 6 starts. DeMott even played whistle-to-whistle 3 times as a sophomore, including a match with #20 Northwestern. She left for more playing time in a clogged back line.
Defender Jessica Osborne is an interesting addition because she only played 168 minutes for Auburn in 2025 but had started 19 of 21 matches and played 1,473 minutes in 2024 and played 13 matches (10 starts) for 835 minutes in 2023 as a freshman.
Kaia Samuelsen Elverum, a midfielder, could be a name to watch, too. She was C-USA Third Team All-Conference as a freshman at Jacksonville State. She scored once and assisted twice in 1,536 minutes of playing time.
Defenders Maleeya Martin (116 minutes as freshman at Michigan State) and Hayden Wilson (176 minutes in 3 matches as a sophomore at Texas A&M) are hoping they can find more time in Dallas than their most recent stops. Granted, Wilson did play 1,517 minutes over 18 matches (17 starts) with Oregon State as a freshman, so she has a bit more experience even if she maybe got too ambitious by transferring to Texas A&M.
Circling back to the presumed starter in goal, Aubrey Brown had a season that is statistically concerning. She allowed 28 goals in 1302 minutes for a 1.93 GAA (normalized to a “per 90 minutes played”) with saves on 67.8% of shots on goal. Frankly, I would guess her struggles are at least partly due to the play in front of her. However, when your GAA is the same as the 300th “best” school in the nation, that means the amount of improvement needed to compete with an attack like Vanderbilt’s is astronomical.
Vanderbilt is a team with a lot of returning firepower and plenty of players who have gone through the hard moments of an SEC Tournament Championship and 3 rounds of the NCAA Tournament. SMU is trying to scrabble together a more competitive team than they had in 2025, but the returns are almost certainly not going to be immediate. The Commodores are not a team you want to be facing as the start of the rebuild.
Unfortunately, I will not be in attendance tonight. I have a conflict, but I will be watching on my phone at the other event and trying to add insight here. Kickoff is 7 PM from the Vanderbilt Soccer/Lacrosse Complex. Remember, soccer is now a ticketed sport in 2026. Tickets can be purchased online through Vanderbilt’s website/app or in person at McGugin just before the match. Single game tickets are $10 while season tickets (10 home matches) are $50. Mine may be available for free to a good home if you hit me up on Twitter.
