Alabama Soccer Falls in Hard-Fought 2-1 Loss to No. 2 Vanderbilt

Sunday, October 18

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

6 p.m. CT

Alabama

13-3-0, 6-2-0

Vanderbilt

14-0-1, 7-0-1

Team	1	2	Final F
Vanderbilt	1	1	2
Alabama	1	0	1

Kiley Kukan (6) celebrates with the bench after scoring a goal vs. Vanderbilt (Oct. 18, 2026)

Alabama Soccer Falls in Hard-Fought 2-1 Loss to No. 2 Vanderbilt

10/18/2026 9:50:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

The Crimson Tide closes out its regular season home schedule Friday vs. Tennessee

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – In a top 10 matchup Sunday night at the Alabama Soccer Stadium, eighth-ranked Alabama fell just short in a hard-fought loss to No. 2 Vanderbilt, 2-1.

Alabama (13-3-0, 6-2-0 SEC) scored first, as Kiley Kukan received a long pass from Melina Rebimbas to fire in a hard shot in in the 19th minute. Late in the first half, Vanderbilt (14-0-1, 7-0-1 SEC) drew a penalty in the box and evened the score up in the 44th minute as the teams headed into the locker room tied at 1-1. In the 65th minute, Megan Hinnenkamp gave the Commodores the 2-1 lead and the visitors held on to the slim lead to hand the Tide the close loss.

From Head Coach Wes Hart

"We ran into a good team today. I thought we played well, I was not disappointed. I thought our effort was fantastic. All the way until that final whistle we were pressing them. There was no giving up, there was no quitting. I think we just ran out of time. I won't take anything away from them. Vanderbilt is an excellent team. There is a reason why they are undefeated - very solid, very organized and very stingy defensively. I'm proud of my group. I thought we were ever as bit as good on the night. We came out in the second half, and I felt it start to turn a little bit when we had so many lazy giveaways which led to some good attacks from them, but our response was excellent. Melina had a big chance, and Larkin had a good chance with a couple minutes left. It just didn't fall, but I'm super proud of my group and excited for what's to come."

Highlights

The goal was Kiley Kukan's second of the season, both of which have come in conference play having previously scored the game-winner against Texas A&M (Sept. 24)
Melina Rebimbas earned her team-leading ninth assist on Kukan's goal

Scoring Summary

19' | Kiley Kukan scored on a quick strike following a long pass from Melina Rebimbas (1-0)
44' | Vanderbilt's Courtney Jones evened the score with a penalty kick (1-1)
65' | Megan Hinnenkamp gave the Commodores the second-half lead (1-2)