Racers Prepare to Face Vanderbilt In First Round Matchup

The Murray State soccer team travels this weekend to face the Vanderbilt Commodores in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Racers earned an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons following a 2-1 victory over UT Martin in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship game last weekend. With back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths for the first time in history, Saturday's match marks the fourth NCAA appearance for Murray State soccer.

The Racers will make their way back to the Volunteer State for their NCAA first-round appearance for the second consecutive year. MSU took on the Tennessee Volunteers in the opening round last year in Knoxville.

The Racers look to spoil another lengthy home unbeaten streak this season at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex, as the Commodores enter Saturday posting a 9-0-1 home record on the year, and have remained unbeaten in their last 12 games on home turf. MSU previously ended the home win streak of Austin Peay, who had won 23 games straight before the Racers' 2-1 victory in Clarksville. In the OVC finals, Murray State also snapped the UT Martin Skyhawks' 11-game home win streak in Martin.

Abby Jones has had a breakout entry into the league, becoming the fourth Racer in MSU history to earn OVC Freshman of the Year honors. After recording her 10th assist of the season in the OVC championship game, Jones surpassed Lauren McAdams' (2000) to hold the new MSU assist record. McAdams recorded nine assists in Murray State's inaugural season in 2000, a record that withstood for 18 seasons before Jones secured her 10th assist last weekend. Jones also posts a freshman best 26 points, topping Jackie Thomas's prior record of 25 points during her freshman campaign in 2000.

Tickets for Saturday's contest are on sale now, as admission will be $10 for adults and $5 for students while children under two will be admitted for free. Fans can call the Vanderbilt University Ticket Office at 615-322-4653 or by visiting vucommodores.com and clicking on the 'Tickets' section. On Saturday, the McGugin Ticket Office will open for sales beginning at 6:00 pm.

Match Notes

Murray State has faced the Commodores two previous times, in 2009 and 2016, with the latest match coming in a 4-0 MSU loss in Nashville. VU takes the series with a 2-0 record over the Racers.

The Racers and Commodores have shared three common opponents this year in Ole Miss, Tennessee Tech and Western Kentucky while posting an identical 2-1 record against the squads. The Dores faced TTU in an exhibition match, defeating the Golden Eagles 1-0 while posting another clean sheet against WKU in a 2-0 win. Vanderbilt also fell in a contest against Ole Miss 1-0.

Against the three squads, Murray State fell 3-0 against Ole Miss but found success in two shutout victories against the Golden Eagles and the Hilltoppers. MSU earned a 2-0 win over TTU and a 1-0 win over WKU this season.

It will be a competitive matchup against MSU's Abby Jones and Vanderbilt's Haley Hopkins, as each earned Freshman of the Year honors for their respective conferences. Jones leads the Racers with 10 assists and 26 points while Hopkins leads all Commodores with 12 goals and six assists.

Vanderbilt head coach Darren Ambrose was recently named the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year for the 2018 season, after leading the Commodores to a SEC regular-season championship.

This is the first time since 2005 that Vanderbilt has hosted an NCAA Tournament game, when they hosted Samford in a match that resulted in a shootout victory for the Bulldogs.

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Players Mentioned

Abby Jones