Vanderbilt Commodores Open Season 1-2

by
September 16, 2013

The Vanderbilt Commodores opened their season with a road trip to South Carolina where they took on the Gamecocks on Friday night, the Clemson Tigers on Saturday night and the Gamecocks again Sunday morning. The Dores came away with a victory against Clemson but lost twice to South Carolina.

John Longman taking the faceoff

After a long day of travel, VU started slow Friday evening and found themselves down 4-1 after the first period against South Carolina. Vandy came back in the second to make the score 4-3 after two periods of play. In the third, the Dores tied the game with a short-handed goal, but gave up the game winning goal late in the third to take a 5-4 loss.

Scrum in Vandy’s goal

VU started quickly Saturday night against Clemson with first period goals from freshmen, Stephen Wei, Ketul Patel, and John Longman. Vandy allowed their only goal of the night during the second period, but sophomore Jack Gibbons netted a goal to put the score at 4-1 going into the third period. Sophomore defensemen Michael Hite added a goal in the third to seal Vandy’s first victory of the season as they defeated Clemson 5-1 in Greenville, South Carolina.

The Dores jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in their Sunday morning game against the Gamecocks in Irmo, SC. It was junior forward Zachary Karlinski and freshman John Longman with the first period goals. SC scored two goals of their own and tied the game before the end of the first period. Although senior Anthony Bilotta netted a hat trick in the second, it wasn’t enough as the Gamecocks scored four goals and took a 6-5 lead into the third. SC came out strong in the third and scored seven unanswered goals, winning the game 13-5.

Vandy hopes to rebound against SECHC opponent Ole Miss this weekend. You can catch the games at A-Game Sportsplex. Puck drops at 8:30 pm CT on Friday and 1:45 pm CT on Saturday.