Soccer Preview and Gamethread: Rice
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Vanderbilt’s soccer team cruised to their 3rd straight win to start the season and kept up their 3-match streak of scoring 4 goals. The Commodores were not as dominant statistically as against ETSU, but Memphis was ranked at 20 or 21 depending on outlet. The hosts completely strangled their in-state opposition until the Commodores had gone to the reserves with 6 freshmen and 2 sophomores on the field. The Tigers found some life in those last 12 minutes, including their lone goal, but it did little to dampen the bright showing by Vanderbilt.
The first thing that stands out to me is Vanderbilt putting all 8 of their shot attempts onto the opposing goal. The attacking half possession being relatively even for a match won by 3 goals also stands out. Memphis was in possession in Vanderbilt’s defensive half for about 23 minutes. The victors were on the front foot for about 27 minutes. Incisiveness and efficiency, which had been a concern for Vanderbilt in the first two matches even with the 4-goal outputs, won the day.
Alexa Gianoplus was rewarded with her first start of the season and was a confident, commanding presence. She did have one shaky moment on a mis-timed punch, but she and her teammates looked unphased by the mistake. Her teammates also appear to be much more comfortable playing the ball back to Gianoplus than they were to Layla Armas who started the first two matches.
Margo Matula having a goal is a fun happening that came from a beautifully worked corner kick routine where Sydney Watts ran hard to the front post then chested the driven pass back towards the onrushing Matula to knock home. Matula really deserved to be credited with the second goal of the match, too, since she was part of a scrum. Her final touch had the ball headed goalward, but a misplayed desperation clearance attempt by a Tiger was the last touch that sent it across the line.
Speaking of Watts as a playmaker, she also had a secondary assist on the opening goal by giving Melania Fullerton a crisp pass perfect to be deflect flicked to the waiting Courtney Jones for a fantastic finish. Watts also got her obligatory goal when she burst out on a Commodore counter with Reagan Pentz supplying a gorgeous through ball from long distance. The composed striker held off the defender then fired into the net as she does so often. The run was simple but well timed, and the battle on the ball was composed and a clever bit of protection.
There are a few other players deserving a shout out for their early performances that have flown under the radar. Grace Freeman has really impressed as the RCB opposite Mary Beth McLaughlin and flanking the center-most defender Matula. Alexis Smith has been an intriguing option as a wide midfielder after playing as an outside center back last season. She was at LCB for the goal against, but it was not on her at all. The squad depth is continuing to build and will be a major part of Vanderbilt living up to their now-unanimous #3 ranking.
Vanderbilt now goes on the road for the first time this season with a 2-match swing through Houston, Texas this weekend. First up are the Owls of Rice. Rice has played a 1-match heavier early schedule than Vanderbilt but has stumbled out of the blocks. They dropped a 2-1 contest to open the season at home against Texas A&M then went to Annapolis to beat Navy 3-0 before going across town to draw Houston Christian and finally drawing at home against Lamar.
A season ago Rice went 10-4-6 (3-2-5 AAC) and had their season end in the American Athletic Conference Tournament Championship. The 1-0 OTL prevented an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and the Owls were denied an at-large bid.
Rice was not a prolific attack with only 33 goals in 20 matches in 2025. They only returned 16 of the 33 goals, too, so they are at 48% returning. A concerning statistic is that 26 goals only had 29 assists in a sport where secondary assists are often credited. The playmaking could be even shakier as only 16 of the 29 (55%) of the setups provided were by players still on the roster.
Key defender Lilly Reuscher who led the team in minutes played (1,807) by over 100 minutes returns. She also has the familiar presence of goalkeeper Kirsten Ruf who was 2nd on the team in minutes at 1,694.
The most dangerous attacker still on the roster is Eileen Albers who had 5 goals and 2 assists from her midfield position. Defender Jadyn Jaeger was the only player coming back with more than 3 goal contributions (combined goals and assists) with 2 goals and 5 assists.
Leach Chancey of the 10 goals and 8 assists is the vast majority of losses in both categories. Carson Martz was also a pivotal defender at 1,656 minutes played who has since graduated.
In 2026, midfielder Lauren Pickup has already bested last seasons solitary goal by scoring twice in the first 4 matches. Freshman Valentina Labuschagne is the only other player with more than 1 goal contribution. She has 1 goal and 1 assist. There are 3 players with 1 goal and 4 more with just an assist. Considering the Owls have already played Houston Christian and Lamar, the attack seems a bit impotent early in the season.
Ruf in goal could be difficult to solve. She had a SV% of 0.805 as a junior in 2025. It is down quite a bit to 0.682 this season, but the sample size is still very small. She allowed only 1.22 goals against on average, and that is down to 1.00 but against fairly soft opposition. Ruf is a good goalkeeper. I am not so sure the team in front of her is holding up their end of the bargain.
Tonight’s match from Holloway Field on Rice’s campus kicks off at 6 PM Central. The match will be streamed on ESPN+, so you will need a subscription to watch. I will be driving during most, if not all, of the match. There may be some halftime and postgame updates as I listen from the road depending on stops. It should be a comfortable result though, even on the road. This is dropping back down to an SMU level of competition, and the Commodores have seemingly worked into much better form since that opening match.
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