Another day, another win for the Lady Vols
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (BVM) — Sunday evening was the perfect setting for the all SEC East matchup as the Lady Vols women鈥檚 soccer team bested the Georgia Bulldogs 3-1 in Knoxville. The win placed the Lady Vols in prime position to clinch the SEC East regular season title.
The Lady Vols came into the matchup off of a tough game against in-state foe Vanderbilt, which resulted in a 2-1 overtime loss for the tenth-ranked Lady Vols, and were looking to regroup in the closing days of the regular season.
A raucous crowd at Regal Soccer Stadium met the Lady Vols with enthusiasm and great energy. A total of 1,100 fans and seven dogs, per the public address announcer, filled the stands and was the second largest crowd this year.聽
The Lady Vols took on the lone undefeated team in the East division and kept them in check for a majority of the game. Georgia came into the game looking to take down the Lady Vols and hand them their third loss on the season and their first back-to-back losses since the middle of March last season where they lost to Cincinnati and North Carolina.聽
Georgia was sitting atop the SEC East standings and would have solidified a regular season championship with a win over the Lady Vols. Unfortunately for the Dawgs, the Lady Vols had other plans.
A back and forth game entertained the crowd for the entirety of the first half. Tennessee had to bring in a backup goaltender as starter Lindsey Romig exited late in the first half with an apparent lower body injury from a collision with a Georgia forward. It was not until the final 10 seconds when a goal would be scored. To the delight of Lady Vol fans, the first goal came off of a Tennessee corner.
Junior forward Cariel Ellis netted the opening goal of the game, with a header, off of a beautifully placed ball from senior Hannah Zaluski from a corner kick with a mere 6 seconds remaining in the half.
It was all Lady Vols from there on out.聽
A short 10 and a half minutes into the second half came Tennessee鈥檚 second goal of the game, off the right foot of Mackenzie George. George鈥檚 fourth goal of the season came from Jaida Thomas as she picked up her fourth assist of the season.聽
Having a two score lead in most other sports like baseball or hockey, is a dangerous lead to have because it can vanish in the blink of an eye. With soccer, a team is more apt to win the game with a two goal lead due to the sheer skill it takes to get around eleven opposing players and manage to get a shot on net where the goalie cannot reach it.聽
Georgia cut the lead in half with a goal from Tori Penn in the 68th minute of the game scoring on relief goaltender Ashley Gabor.
Twenty minutes later and the Lady Vols regained the two goal lead that they had entered the second half with.聽
Thomas netted her seventh goal of the season with an assist from George in the 88th minute of the game. The goal from Thomas cemented a win for Tennessee and pushed them to 14-2-0 overall and 7-2-0 in SEC play.
With the win against Georgia, the Lady Vols have put themselves in a great position to secure the SEC East regular season title for the second year in a row as they welcome the Kentucky Wildcats to Regal Soccer Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 28 at 6:00 p.m.聽
Prior to the match against the Wildcats, the Lady Vols and Lady Vol faithful will congratulate and recognize seniors Brooke Wilson, Ashley Gabor, Mackenzie Ostrom, Hannah Tillett and super senior Wrenne French, as it is senior night.聽
UTSports has tabbed the Lady Vols soccer team as a second half team, noting that the team has outscored their opponents 28-6 in the second half of games. Overall, the Lady Vols are outscoring their opponents 42-10 this season with one game left to play.聽
The Lady Vols are averaging 2.63 goals per game while giving up 0.63. They are also outshooting opponents 327-145, boasting a 20.4 shots per game average.聽
The game against the Kentucky Wildcats can be watched on SEC Network.
Tennessee vs. Georgia Highlights 馃槏
— Tennessee Soccer (@Vol_Soccer)
