Monday, August 16, 2010

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont women's soccer team put forth a valiant effort in its final exhibition game of the season, holding intracity rival Vanderbilt to just two goals on Sunday night in Nashville.

The first stanza started evenly with each squad attempting to feel each other out in the early minutes. Vanderbilt was able to notch two shots in the first 20 minutes of action but neither was able to find the back of the net. The first sailed over the crossbar and the second was halted by freshman goalkeeper Nicole Berner (Randolph, N.J.). The Bruins were able to penetrate deep into Commodore territory but could not line up a series of crosses to complete the opportunities. Vanderbilt went on to

Sixty seconds into the second stanza sophomore Spencer Laufer (Houston, Texas) struck a ball from 25 yards out that slipped through the hands of Commodore keeper Rachel Bachtel to give Belmont its first goal of the night. Vanderbilt fired back 11 minutes later with a header that was handily tipped over the crossbar by junior netminder Sari Lin (Carefree, Ariz.). Rookie Bailey Kimbell (Birmingham, Ala.) tallied the Bruins' second goal in the 72nd minute with assisting touches coming from classmate Amy Jo Anderson (Birmingham, Ala.) and senior Erica Carter (Spring, Texas). The Commodores were finally able to put one on the board three minutes later using a Bruin deflection inside the box. Using the momentum, VU found a way to notch a second goal in the 82nd minute to knot the contest at two. The teams settled for the 2-2 tie in regulation to wrap the preseason for both programs.

"Tonight was a good result for us," said Head Coach Lisa Howe. "I was really proud that we held them to 13 shots. Some of the other times we have played them they came away with 30 or more shots. We stayed organized on defense and worked hard to stay in shape."