Lady Vols soccer hogtie the Razorbacks, become the queens of the SEC
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (BVM) — Another day, another Lady Vols win and that has been the story of this entire soccer season for this team. The Lady Vols capped off an outstanding season, so far, with an SEC Tournament win against the pesky Arkansas Razorbacks 3-0. Arkansas came into this matchup flying high after beating Auburn 5-1 a couple of days prior and scoring three goals in just under eight minutes.
The last time these two teams met was roughly six weeks ago, when the Razorbacks were all over the Lady Vols and won the game 3-1 in Fayetteville. Needless to say, the Lady Vols remembered that game and came to win this game.
Super Senior Wrenne French got her second goal of the season off of a set corner kick piece with a beautiful ball from Hannah Zaluski. This was a big goal because it broke the 0-0 tie late in the first half. The Lady Vols had all of the momentum going into the second half and kept pouring on the pressure in the Razorbacks鈥� end of the field.聽
Five minutes into the second half another Tennessee goal was scored, this time by Jaida Thomas. Her 13th goal of the season was a chip shot off a pass from one of the multiple standout freshmen on the team, Claire Rain. Rain brought her season point total to nine after the assist to Thomas.聽
Arkansas was not going down without a fight and spent a good chunk of time playing in the Tennessee half of the field. Unfortunately for them, Lindsey Romig was on fire and the Lady Vols defense was as stifling as ever. The defense conceded 17 shots throughout the entirety of the game, the most shots allowed since the Mississippi State game on Oct. 15 where they gave up 14 蝉丑辞迟蝉.听
Hannah Tillet rounded out the scoring in this game making it 3-0 in the 68th minute, ripping a shot from 15 yards out on a nice assist from Jaida Thomas. Tillet, a senior, also tallied her second goal of the season. Much like the play from Wrenne French, Tillet is more of a playmaker than a goal scorer. Due to the nature of this team, everyone gets a chance to score a goal. Not including the goaltenders on the Lady Vol roster, only four players did not record a point thus far in the season.
鈥淚 could talk forever about all of the individual performances today. There were so many of them. However, the strength of this group has consistently been in our numbers – everyone playing their role, doing their part,鈥� Head Coach Brian Pensky said. 鈥淥ur bench energy was phenomenal today, continuously inspiring the kids on the field. And that was a big deal, especially in the first 20 minutes or so of that second half. So, it was just a total collective effort.鈥�
The Lady Vols picked up their first top five victory since 2018 when they beat the Texas A&M Aggies. This team also picked up their 11th shutout of the season and are one shy of tying the record for most shutouts in a season.聽
Momentum is in their favor as they go into the weekend against the ASUN champion Lipscomb University. This will be an in-state, I-40 showdown with LU being 161 miles away from the Tennessee campus.聽
The Lady Vols are coming home to what will be an electric atmosphere in Regal Soccer Stadium. The stands will be packed to the brim as this is the first round of the NCAA Women鈥檚 Soccer Tournament. A hard fought battle is in store for the Lady Vols, but they should be able to weather the storm from the Lipscomb Bison. Kickoff time is slated for 5:00 p.m. on Friday evening.聽
Let the celebration begin!
The trophy resides on Rocky Top!
— Tennessee Soccer (@Vol_Soccer)
