The chances were there for the Commodores Sunday afternoon.
“Our biggest issue right now is that we’re not capitalizing on the other team’s mistakes, and then we make one mistake and the other team finds a way to put it in the back of the net against us,” said Vanderbilt coach Ronnie Woodard.
No. 22 Georgia found those ways twice in the second half and pulled away from Vanderbilt 3-0 on Sunday afternoon at the VU Soccer Complex. Bulldogs goalkeeper Michelle Betos made several critical saves to record her sixth solo shutout of the season.
In a first half filled with scoring chances on both ends of the field, Natalie Farley split the Vanderbilt back line down the middle in the 34th minute to field a pass from Ashley Miller and slide it past goalkeeper Rachel Bachtel from eleven yards out for the Bulldogs’ first goal.
Farley’s goal was the last and most successful of several threatening first-half scoring chances from the Georgia offense, and a series of impressive stops from Bachtel in goal held the deficit at one and kept the Commodores in the game as the half ended.
Vanderbilt’s first-half efforts were less productive, as the Commodores struggled to settle into a rhythm on offense.
Megan Forester and Molly Kinsella both had promising close-range attempts stopped by Betos, and several runs and crossing passes fell apart just short of becoming legitimate scoring chances. In the eighth minute, Kinsella found herself just to the left of an open net after maneuvering around a diving Betos, but her shot from a sharp angle hit the outside of the net.
“Instead of saying, ‘Oh, that was a good try,’ we have to make sure that we say ‘That was a great goal.’ That’s our biggest thing right now,” Woodard said.
In the second half, the Commodores could not produce the same level of scoring opportunities against a defense that turned up its intensity as the game went on, and the Bulldogs offense pulled away.
In the 65th minute, Caroline Simpson streaked in unmarked from the top of the penalty area to head in a corner kick from five yards out for Georgia’s second goal. Alex Hooker beat her defender and the goalkeeper to the ball on a long cross and finished from eleven yards out in the 79th minute to cap off the scoring for the Bulldogs.
The Commodores, outshot 10-3 in the second half, had little response aside from several frustrated long passes in the final minutes. They were also shut out in regulation on Friday against Tennessee but won that one in overtime thanks to a Kinsella goal.
Vanderbilt continues its homestand next weekend against Arkansas and LSU.
