Soccer season comes to an end

The Vanderbilt women’s soccer season is officially over after the NCAA released its 64 team field without the Commodores in it tonight.
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On the bubble...

by Barca Blog - The Vanderbilt women's soccer team will find out if it's one of the 64 teams chosen for the NCAA Tournament when the brackets are officially revealed Monday night by the NCAA selection committee.

Head coach Ronnie Woodard feels that her team has done enough to warrant a bid.

"We are hopeful that the NCAA committee is going to think that we are one of the best 64 teams and invite us to the NCAA Tournament," Woodard said following VU's 4-2 loss to No. 16 LSU in the first round of the SEC Tournament Wednesday. "We know that we are a bubble team for the NCAA tournament but we have high hopes that our name will be on the board come Monday."

Since the Commodores (11-8-1) are on the bubble, let's weigh the pros and cons of their resume:

Pros: Vanderbilt ended the regular season winners of four straight -- all shutouts -- including a 1-0 win over No. 17 Ole Miss in Oxford. Their RPI ranking stands at 46th in the nation.

Cons: No more than six teams from the SEC have made the NCAA Tournament in a given year since the conference formed in 1993. Vanderbilt finished seventh in the SEC at 5-6.

Vanderbilt has appeared in the NCAA Tournament seven times in school history and twice during Woodard's tenure (2005 & 2006).

Find out if the 'Dores make the field of 64 by watching the 2009 NCAA Women's Soccer Selection Show on ESPNews Monday night at 7 p.m. CT.

'Dores eliminated from SEC Tourney

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- LSU scored two goals in the games first 20 minutes and that was enough to hold off a Vanderbilt comeback as the seventh-seeded Commodores fell 4-1 to the second-seeded Tigers in the first round of SEC Tournament on Wednesday afternoon. With the loss, the Commodores fall to 11-8-1 overall and will now wait to see if their name is called during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday night. Read More

IN PROGRESS: Vanderbilt vs. LSU

Here is Vanderbilt's starting lineup

gk #1 Rachel Bachtel
d #4 Megan Eddings
d #5 Kate Goldin
d #24 Mary Rachel Reynolds
f #7 Nicole Lukens
f #19 Candace West
f #20 Molly Kinsella
mf #9 Megan Forester
mf #17 Chelsea Stewart
mf #22 Emily Grant
mf #23 CJ Rhoades

weather: fair skies, 80 degrees

You can watch the game live by clicking here

Pregame: LSU photos

By Travis Young - I was able to snap a couple of photos an hour before Vanderbilt's first round game with LSU. The Commodores are about to come out of the lockerroom and take the game field for the first time since 2006. Don't forget to tune into secsports.com at noon CT to watch (Live Webcast) the seventh-seeded Commodores take on the second-seeded Tigers of LSU.

See below for photos. (Click on the photo to see larger image)

VU Soccer Prepares for LSU in SEC Tourney

By Travis Young - The Vanderbilt soccer team is 45 minutes away from loading up on the bus and making the five minute drive to the Orange Beach Sportsplex. The Commodores had a championship caliber breakfast this morning at the Duck Diner in Orange Beach at 8 a.m. Special thanks to the staff at the local Orange Beach diner for its excellent hospitality and great food.

Today's game with the Tigers will kick-off at Noon CT and will be streamed live on the Southeastern Conference website (www.secsports.com).

All matches leading up to the championship game will be streamed live on SECsports.com complete with broadcasters assigned and provided by XOS Digital. These live match feeds are available to the public for free and will remain on the website for later viewing. The championship match will be aired on ESPNU on November 8, 2009 at 2 p.m.

In case you missed the photo gallery from yesterday's events, click here.

Stay tuned to the vucommodores.com blog for further updates from Orange Beach and the SEC Tournament.

Photo Gallery- Soccer at SEC Tournament

By Travis Young - The Vanderbilt soccer team just finished having a team meal and team meetings at The Wharf Resort in Orange Beach, Ala., as they prepare for its first round matchup with LSU tomorrow at the 2009 SEC Tournament. The Commodores game with the Tigers will start at Noon CT from the Orange Beach Sportsplex.

The team spent part of the day at the soccer complex before getting some down time at the beautiful Wharf Resort in Orange Beach. VUcommodores.com was able to catch up with the team and get a couple of photos. Special thanks to Megan Kinsella for the use of the great photos.

Click here to see the photo gallery of the Vanderbilt soccer team's activities in Orange Beach.

Also, for a preview of tomorrow's game with the Tigers click here.

Soccer Arrives in Orange Beach

By Travis Young - The Vanderbilt women's soccer team made the eight hour trek down to Orange Beach, Ala., for this week's SEC Tournament. The Commodores arrived to their beautiful destination in Orange Beach as the team is staying at The Wharf Resort along the Gulf Shores. The state of the art facility offers everything a team would want within walking distance.

The Commodores are currently practicing at the Orange Beach Sportsplex on a practice field adjacent to the main stadium field. The field crew is currently putting the finishing touches and painting the SEC logo in the middle of the field.

VUcommodores.com will provide a live blog from Orange Beach this week so be sure to keep up with the Vanderbilt soccer team.

The seventh-seeded Commodores (11-7-1, 5-6 SEC) will face second-seeded LSU (11-4-3, 8-2-1 SEC) in the first round of the SEC Tournament at noon CT Wednesday

Video: Know Your Commodore

Who knows women's soccer midfielder Megan Forester better... Lindsay Ratterman or Megan Kinsella? Find out in the latest Know Your Commodore segment on VUcommodores.com.

Soccer lineup change pays off

by SID - The women's soccer team closes out the regular season at home this Friday against Kentucky at 7 p.m. Just a couple of weeks ago, it looked like it would be the final game of the 2009 campaign as well, as the team lost its fourth straight game at Auburn (3-0) to drop to 7-7-1 overall and 1-6 in SEC play.

The coaching staff decided to make a couple of lineup changes, giving sophomore Emily Grant and redshirt freshman Kate Goldin starting nods against Alabama. The moves have paid off since then as the team has won three straight including a 1-0 win over No. 17 Ole Miss last Sunday in Oxford. Both of them have come up big in critical situations. Grant scored the game-winning goal in overtime against Alabama on Oct. 19, giving the Commodores their first SEC road win of the season. Goldin, who had battled through a knee injury suffered in her senior year in high school, came through with the game-winner against the Rebels on Sunday to extend the win streak to three, the longest in league play since the 2005 campaign.

The Commodores control their own destiny in terms of reaching the SEC tournament next week in Orange Beach, Ala. A win or tie against the Wildcats will clinch a spot in the field for the first time since the 2006 season.

Head coach Ronnie Woodard is proud of the way the team has responded to the challenge of getting back on track to end the season.

"It’s always a challenge as a coach to keep the team together and still believing in themselves when going through a rough stretch like that," said Woodard. "I am proud with the way they stood up to the adversity after they experienced some tough losses."

The team has stepped up the intensity throughout all phases and have posted three straight shutout wins in the process. Goalkeeper Rachel Bachtel was honored by the SEC as its Defensive Player of the Week after recording 10 saves in those contests.

After the Ole Miss match, Woodard said that reaching 10 wins was one of the team's goals coming into the season and another was reaching Orange Beach, an experience only two current Commodores have had a chance to participate in: senior Megan Forester and redshirt junior Nicole Lukens.

"The girls have bought in and are fighting hard and are getting good results," said Woodard. "We took the stance of just taking it one game at a time in order to get to Orange Beach. Right now, the short term goals have proven to be very effective towards this goal."

Commodore Soccer on TV Sunday

By Travis Young - Tune your television to CSS today as the Vanderbilt women's soccer team plays the defending SEC Champions and 10th-ranked Florida in Gainesville, Fla. The game with Commodores (6-2-1, 0-1 SEC) and Gators (7-3-0, 1-0 SEC) will get underway at 1 p.m. at James G. Pressly Stadium.

It will be a warm one for the 'Dores, who are wearing their black jerseys with gold lettering.

Game time temperature: Partly Cloudy, 86 degrees, heat index is 94 degrees.

Commodore Soccer on TV Tonight

By Travis Young - The Vanderbilt soccer team will open SEC play tonight in Columbia, S.C., as they square off with undefeated and 12th ranked South Carolina. The Commodores (6-1-1) and Gamecocks (8-0) will play at 6 p.m. CT tonight on Fox Sports South. Check your local listings for television information. Due to the game being televised by Fox Sports South there will not be a webcast of tonight's game on vucommodores.com.

VU leads the all-time series with South Carolina 13-1-2. To see a preview of tonight's game with No. 12 USC and Sunday's game at No. 10 Florida click here.

September Student-Athletes of the Month

by Barca Blog - Congratulations to Rachel Bachtel (Women's Soccer) and Jermaine Beal (Men's Basketball), Student-Athletes of the Month for September.

They were chosen on the basis of the all-around student-athlete... effort and excellence in academics, leadership, integrity, dedication to team, campus involvement, community service and the ability to serve as role models for current and future Vanderbilt students and student-athletes.

Click here to read Q&A's with the two honorees.

Commodore home events this weekend

Women's Soccer vs. Tennessee-Martin
Friday, 7 p.m. CT, VU Soccer Complex
Vanderbilt (5-1-1) will look to extend its undefeated home record (5-0) against Tennessee-Martin (3-3) Friday night. This will be the first ever matchup between the schools on the soccer pitch. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for 17-and-under, and free for youth wearing their league soccer jersey to the game. Game Preview

M/W Cross Country - Commodore Classic
Saturday, 9 a.m. CT, Percy Warner Park
The Commodores will host a talented field this weekend including a number of teams from within the state in Austin Peay, Bethel, Lipscomb, Memphis, Rhodes, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and UT-Martin. The men’s 8000-meter race will begin at 9 a.m., while the women’s 5K will start at 10 a.m. Admission is free. Meet Preview

Football vs. Mississippi State
Saturday, 6 p.m. CT, Dudley Field
Vanderbilt (1-1, 0-1 SEC) will look for its first conference win of the season Saturday as they take on Mississippi State (1-1, 0-1). Tickets are $50, but you can take advantage of a $15 discount if you bring a canned food item to the McGugin Athletic Box office before 5 p.m. CT on Friday. If you already have tickets, we encourage you to donate canned food items at the stadium entrances in support of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Also, please note that there will be closures on I-440 westbound between interstates 65 and 40. Gameday Central

Sunday soccer game time changed

by SID - Due to travel issues with Missouri (miscalculation on flight times, etc.) the soccer match against the Tigers on Sunday has been moved to a bright and early 9 a.m. at the Auburn Soccer Complex. This could be the earliest soccer match in Vanderbilt history. Will send Travis the intern into the vast archives to find out.

Everything Young is New Again

By Weinman - With the cross country meet going on this afternoon at Percy Warner Park, our intern Travis Young will be unable to broadcast tonight's women's soccer game against Belmont. I have agreed to fill in for the evening.

In the interest of making the webcast interactive, I've setup a Twitter account where I'll be accepting any questions or comments you may have -- www.twitter.com/fightdores -- I'll send shout-outs, try to answer questions, etc. Go Dores!

Intern Travis is revealed

From Brayburn's award-winning documentary...

In this video clip, Vanderbilt soccer seniors Lindsay Ratterman (6) and Megan Forester (9) give the scoop on intern Travis during the team's preseason photo shoot. We discover how the media relations assistant was almost left in Athens, Ga., on a trip last year.

(Breaking news from the AP wire... Travis has officially signed a one-year extension to work in our office. He will receive minimal pay plus a year's supply of A1 Steak Sauce. Make sure you say hello if you see him at a Commodore event this year.)

Stewart plays 64 minutes against USA

by SID - Chelsea Stewart picked up her sixth cap with the Canadian National Soccer team in Wednesday night's 1-0 loss to Team USA in Charleston, S.C.

She played 64 minutes in the final match of a three-game friendly against the US.

Chelsea Stewart Playing For Canadian National Team

by SID - Chelsea Stewart played 45 minutes for the Canadian Women's National Team in Sunday's 1-0 loss to Team USA in Rochester, N.Y.

She picked up her fifth cap playing for the National Team and now has 17 matches of international experience including her U-20 time.

Canada and the US will close out a three-game friendly series tonight at 7 p.m. CT in Charleston, S.C.

"It's been exciting getting to play against and with some of the best players in the world, players I grew up watching and admiring," said Stewart prior to Wednesday night's contest against the US.

She has used the experience against the US team to better herself as a player. "Being on the pitch with them is an opportunity to improve your game drastically," added Stewart who has always followed the team. "I saw the US beat Brazil in the 1999 World Cup semis at Stanford when I was nine years old, so the opportunity to play against them was great."

The incoming freshman thought her team played tough in Monday's loss. "I thought Canada did well against the US, holding them at 0-0 for nearly 80 minutes and I am proud of my team," Stewart said.

Stewart, along with the rest of the Commodore soccer team, will officially report to campus on Aug. 5. The team will play an exhibition match at Western Kentucky on Aug. 15 at 6 p.m., before opening the regular season on Aug. 22 against Saint Louis at 7 p.m. at the VU Soccer Complex.

Soccer signee integral part of No. 1 team

by SID - The Kingswood Lady Mustangs are currently ranked the No. 1 high school soccer team in the country according to ESPNrush.com.

One of Vanderbilt's soccer signees, Amanda Essay, is one of the senior leaders on the team that is 25-0-2. They have been dominating opponents thus far, with 20 shutouts in 27 games. The team is looking to make a run at a state championship.

Click here for more info on the Mustangs.