Throughout the regular season, the Commodore women's soccer players have made a point of not getting ahead of themselves.

Focusing on one game at a time, Vanderbilt (10-7-1, 4-6 Southeastern Conference) now finds itself one win or tie away from a guaranteed SEC tournament berth — its first since 2006.

With their season at a crossroads, the Commodores will need to look to the future on Friday night, as they take on fellow SEC foe, Kentucky (5-9-4, 2-7-1 SEC), in the final game of their regular season.

A successful outing against the Wildcats will propel Vanderbilt into postseason SEC play in Orange Beach, Ala., the middle of next week.

The Commodores’ last three wins, coming against Alabama, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, over the course of the last week, have helped the team into tournament contention. Prior to the 1-0 overtime win against Alabama, Vanderbilt had dropped six of their last seven games, all against fellow SEC teams.

Despite the mid-season skid, the Commodores were able to refocus their play when it mattered, overcoming the prospect of an unsuccessful season of conference play.

“Frustration most definitely set in for the team — any time you go on a bit of a losing skid, frustration comes in, doubt comes in, and stress comes in, so you put yourself in a corner,” said coach Ronnie Woodard. “As a coaching staff, we had to come together and figure out how we were going to get this team to maintain, keep coming to practice and keep striving to keep playing.”

For the remainder of this season, finishing has become the team’s number one priority. Led by juniors Molly and Megan Kinsella, as well as senior Megan Forester (who, along with senior Lindsay Rattermann, will be recognized at Senior Day festivities at Friday's game) and redshirt junior Nicole Lukens, the team focuses on taking advantage of opportunities on the field.

“What we tried to do is focus on the process that leads to winning,” Woodard said. “If we took care of our tiny goals which would be so many shots per game, so many corners per game, so many shutouts and took care of the tiny little standards that we set, we knew the result would come.”

After qualifying for the SEC Tournament in 2006, Vanderbilt suffered a tough loss to South Carolina in the first round, losing in penalty kicks to the Gamecocks. Forester and Lukens were the only two current Commodores to see action three years ago in Orange Beach.

With only one game standing between Vanderbilt and a guaranteed return to postseason play, the Commodores are excited to extend their season.

“It’s something new, something to look forward to,” said Molly Kinsella. “We don't really have any expectations but we hope to do really well.”