⚽️Lady Vols Soccer Thread

[MAD]

Let’s continue with the timeline history of Lady Vols Soccer.
UT had announced they were adding women’s soccer on April 15 1994

March 29 1995
National search began for coach

November 1 1995
Charlie MacCabe named as head coach.

The hiring of Charlie MacCabe, who previously served as an assistant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which is to women's soccer as the Lady Vols are to women's basketball. Building a highly competitive women's soccer program at the Division I level does not happen overnight. For most schools, it is a tremendous challenge which often never materializes. MacCabe has a different philosophy, however, and believes UT will be an exception to the rule. "It's easier here to build a program in women's soccer than at almost any other school due to the strength and reputation of women's athletics on this campus," MacCabe said. "The support that the university and the women's athletic department have given us to build this program is phenomenal, from the budget to the support staff to the new soccer facility," MacCabe said. "I feel it is a matter of time before we are very competitive."

View attachment 612435


February 1 1996
Article from The Daily Beacon on the hiring of assistant coach Angela Kelly

Angela Kelly, a member of four NCAA championship soccer teams at North Carolina, has been named a Lady Vols' assistant soccer coach.
Along with four national titles, the Lady Tar Heels won four Atlantic Coast Conference titles and four ACC Championships in Kelly's four-year stay (1991-94). She started in 94 games and compiled 38 goals and 27 assists. Throughout her career North Carolina reeled off a 97-1-1 record. Kelly was named to NCAA and All-ACC teams three consecutive seasons and was a member of the All-American first team in 1994. "Having performed at the highest level, she will be the perfect role model for our young and inexperienced players," head coach Charlie MacCabe said.
The Scotland native is looking forward to her stay at UT. "I am very excited about this new position," Kelly said Tuesday. "I can not see why we can not build a successful program here in the next few years." Soccer will become the 11th Lady Vol intercollegiate sport when it begins next fall.
View attachment 612436


Women's soccer assistant--Michelle Bertocchi, a graduate assistant coach at Georgia State, appointed assistant coach at Tennessee

View attachment 612437


View attachment 612439
Charlie MacCabe, Angela Kelly, Michelle Bertocchi

History of Lady Vols Soccer part 3.

With our new coach Charlie MacCabe in place it was time to get some players.

December 7 1995
First official visit by a recruit

December 14 1995
Melissa Covington gives UT it’s very first verbal commitment

February 7 1996
Melissa Covington is UT’s first signee


Taken from the 1996 Media Guide.

 

[MAD]

UNC lost another one. 2025 commit switched from North Carolina to Texas.

 

[Stmichael]

The SEC is King. No conference gives the athletes the amount of 'goodies' and gear, $$$ and access to the elite facilities than the SEC. If a player is going to go through the trials and tribulations of being a college athlete, they might as well go to place that either spoils them or is closest to the equator

 

[Stmichael]

Texas will be a tough team to play. They havnt had the back to back inter conference challenges of the SEC (which beats teams down), but I still believe that they will be the team to beat. And, they can be beat.

 

[Stmichael]

And thank you for the historical rundown of Tennessee soccer. Good stuff!

 

[turbovol]

Texas will be a tough team to play. They havnt had the back to back inter conference challenges of the SEC (which beats teams down), but I still believe that they will be the team to beat. And, they can be beat.

I think Texas will find the SEC much more difficult than the Big 12. The SEC is a deeper conference, for one thing. Who besides Texas and TCU has been consistently strong in soccer in the Big12? Nobody that I can think of. They've had two or three teams that have had a decent season now and again, but nobody other than Texas and TCU has stood out. I also think the SEC is a more physical and athletic conference. SEC teams, top to bottom, don't play the best soccer--but practically everyone can be tough to beat, either because they're talented and pretty good or they're athletic and tough defensively. It's a grind. Texas could do fairly well--but it won't be easy.

As for your other point, the ACC has to be considered the king (queen?) of women's soccer. SEC programs certainly have money, and several have nice facilities, and, yes, the weather is attractive--but the ACC has a large number of very high-quality programs with tradition, strong academics and outstanding coaches. There are at least six or seven top programs in the ACC. I'm not sure we have any. If the SEC really wants to close the gap with the ACC, its programs will have to commit more money to hiring top-quality coaches, IMO. We have a strong brand--that shows in the way we've attracted transfers from Michigan and OSU and OU, etc.---but have to do a better job of taking advantage of it.

 

[MAD]

History of Lady Vols Soccer part 3.

With our new coach Charlie MacCabe in place it was time to get some players.

December 7 1995
First official visit by a recruit

December 14 1995
Melissa Covington gives UT it’s very first verbal commitment

February 7 1996
Melissa Covington is UT’s first signee


Taken from the 1996 Media Guide.
View attachment 612719

History of Lady Vols Soccer part 4.


June 10 1996
Construction began on the soccer complex


TENNESSEE SOCCER COMPLEX



Taken from the 1996 Lady Vols Soccer Media Guide.

The University of Tennessee is highly supportive of the addition of women's soccer to its athletics docket, as evidenced by the newly constructed Tennessee Soccer Complex. Located less than a mile from the main campus on University property, the facility includes two fields for the exclusive use of the women's soccer program.

The entire complex, a $625,000 project, features two 80 x 120 fields with less than a one percent crown on each. Both are lighted, sod with bermuda grass, and boast total field irrigation. The raised press box includes phone lines, a public address system, and the controls to an electronic scoreboard.

Spectator seating is on aluminum bleachers positioned on concrete, with capacity at 1,000. Fans will enjoy the convenience of permanent restroom facilities, a souvenir stand and concessions located adjacent to the bleachers. Parking boarders three sides of the facility.

Future plans include locker rooms for the Lady Vols and their opponents, as well as an equipment storage room. Large tented areas will serve as team meeting areas.


Opening day for the complex was Aug. 30, with a match against Tennessee-Chattanooga at 6 p.m. The Lady Vols will host a total of seven games in their inaugural season. All seats will be general admission, with tickets slated at $2 each. UT students are admitted free with a valid student I.D.

 

[MAD]

Can one of you that understands these graphs explain how the Lady Vols rate?

Evaluating Top 2023 NCAA D1 Women’s Soccer Sides – Data Analysis

NCAA D1 Women’s soccer season through statistics and data analysis. The statistics for this data analysis frame styles of play for NCAA D1 soccer teams in data visuals.

totalfootballanalysis.com

This week, NCAA D1 women’s soccer takes the mantle. Using each of the profiled teams’ complete data from the 2023 season, this data analysis will look at the key performance metrics and build out a data-driven look at each team’s attacking and defensive tactics.

​

To add context to the graphs in this article, giving an explanation of the data set is important. For those who are unfamiliar with NCAA D1 women’s soccer, there are 347 teams. That’s 136 more teams on the women’s side than the men’s, meaning far more data to piece through for a comprehensive data set. Rather than listing every team, the approach for this article was to include each program in the RPI top 100, as well as Power Five schools outside of that range. For any program that falls outside of that range, feel free to contact Scott for an idea of where your program would fall relative to the current data set.

This data analysis is designed to show the performance indicators of NCAA D1 women’s soccer top teams. It’s packed with insights on the top-performing teams. We’ll see how they construct play in attack and identify tendencies in the press.

 

[turbovol]

Can one of you that understands these graphs explain how the Lady Vols rate?

Evaluating Top 2023 NCAA D1 Women’s Soccer Sides – Data Analysis

NCAA D1 Women’s soccer season through statistics and data analysis. The statistics for this data analysis frame styles of play for NCAA D1 soccer teams in data visuals.

totalfootballanalysis.com

This week, NCAA D1 women’s soccer takes the mantle. Using each of the profiled teams’ complete data from the 2023 season, this data analysis will look at the key performance metrics and build out a data-driven look at each team’s attacking and defensive tactics.

​

To add context to the graphs in this article, giving an explanation of the data set is important. For those who are unfamiliar with NCAA D1 women’s soccer, there are 347 teams. That’s 136 more teams on the women’s side than the men’s, meaning far more data to piece through for a comprehensive data set. Rather than listing every team, the approach for this article was to include each program in the RPI top 100, as well as Power Five schools outside of that range. For any program that falls outside of that range, feel free to contact Scott for an idea of where your program would fall relative to the current data set.

This data analysis is designed to show the performance indicators of NCAA D1 women’s soccer top teams. It’s packed with insights on the top-performing teams. We’ll see how they construct play in attack and identify tendencies in the press.

Good find, Mad. Pretty interesting stuff. It basically shows that we were average or slightly above average in most of the categories. We fared pretty well with respect to mixing structured attacking play with counterattacking play. It's good to have a mix. We were a bit above average with possession. In most of the graphs the farther right/upper right you are, the better you are. There are one or two defensive charts where you want to be lower left quadrant.

These charts seemed pretty accurate to me when I looked at Arkansas' position on number of long passes. I think it was number one--and that's exactly how they play---lots of long passes, and they rated very high on winning balls via pressing and counter-pressing. And then South Carolina rated well with number of shots allowed--defense is their thing. The charts correlate pretty closely, it seems, with the teams that were the strongest overall. The chart with goals scored/XG (expected goals from quality chances) shows FSU as a leader.

The upshot for us is that we didn't do anything especially well but weren't poor in any one area, either. The charts rather reflect the year that we had.

 

[MAD]

I saw this question asked and wondered what y’all thought?


Do you think internationals that were once professional soccer players, now in their early-20’s of age, should be allowed to play college soccer?

 

[brittannica]

I saw this question asked and wondered what y’all thought?


Do you think internationals that were once professional soccer players, now in their early-20’s of age, should be allowed to play college soccer?

Oh! This is interesting… I’ll give it some thought and be back with my answer

 

[scores4fun]

I saw this question asked and wondered what y’all thought?


Do you think internationals that were once professional soccer players, now in their early-20’s of age, should be allowed to play college soccer?

No. Having played soccer at the D1 and D2 level I feel there is way too many international players in the US college game. I feel there needs to be some sort of cap per team. The D1 school I played for I would say the roster was 65-70% international players but now is probably closer to 75-80% international players. The D2 school I played for at the time was maybe 30% international players but now is close to 75% international players.

 

[scores4fun]

No. Having played soccer at the D1 and D2 level I feel there is way too many international players in the US college game. I feel there needs to be some sort of cap per team. The D1 school I played for I would say the roster was 65-70% international players but now is probably closer to 75-80% international players. The D2 school I played for at the time was maybe 30% international players but now is close to 75% international players.

Womens college soccer isnt as bad as the mens side with how many international players there are. But it is moving toward that direction.

This could also be said for college tennis and golf teams. Way too many internationals. Nothing against international players. Some of my best friends are from England that i played soccer with. Just feel there needs to be an adjustment some where.

 

[turbovol]

Updated roster, with 20 players listed. They include transfers Cuneio and Latino. That they are listed
may mean that they are enrolled and thus can participate in spring practice, which would be a very good thing.
I say that because other transfers are not listed on the roster, which I assume means that they've not yet enrolled and probably won't until the
fall and thus will not participate in spring practice. In a perfect world you'd want all your transfers to take part in spring practice,
because the fall preseason training period is short--at most 3 weeks, if that--and the coaches have to make a lot of decisions
in a short period of time (and in some cases did not make the right decisions last year).

When the other transfers and the incoming freshman arrive we'll be back up to a roster of 30 or so, which is a lot--arguably
a bit too large. We should not lack for overall talent. We may lack experience at certain positions, and cohesion early on, what with a LOT
of new players--but it should be a group with a nice mix of experience and young talent. It's up to the coaches to take it from there.

2024 Soccer Roster - University of Tennessee Athletics

The official 2024 Soccer Roster for the University of Tennessee Volunteers

utsports.com

 

[MAD]

Updated roster, with 20 players listed. They include transfers Cuneio and Latino. That they are listed
may mean that they are enrolled and thus can participate in spring practice, which would be a very good thing.
I say that because other transfers are not listed on the roster, which I assume means that they've not yet enrolled and probably won't until the
fall and thus will not participate in spring practice. In a perfect world you'd want all your transfers to take part in spring practice,
because the fall preseason training period is short--at most 3 weeks, if that--and the coaches have to make a lot of decisions
in a short period of time (and in some cases did not make the right decisions last year).

When the other transfers and the incoming freshman arrive we'll be back up to a roster of 30 or so, which is a lot--arguably
a bit too large. We should not lack for overall talent. We may lack experience at certain positions, and cohesion early on, what with a LOT
of new players--but it should be a group with a nice mix of experience and young talent. It's up to the coaches to take it from there.

2024 Soccer Roster - University of Tennessee Athletics

The official 2024 Soccer Roster for the University of Tennessee Volunteers

utsports.com

Any news on the spring schedule?

 

[turbovol]

Womens college soccer isnt as bad as the mens side with how many international players there are. But it is moving toward that direction.

This could also be said for college tennis and golf teams. Way too many internationals. Nothing against international players. Some of my best friends are from England that i played soccer with. Just feel there needs to be an adjustment some where.

Where did you play soccer, if I may ask?

I had the same thought as you--about the NCAA setting a limit on the number of international players on a team--a few years ago when Florida State was first emerging as a college power. I looked at FSU's roster and was surprised to see the number of internationals--at least 8 or so, as I recall. Signing internationals was a big priority for Krikorian--and no doubt his teams benefited from doing so. He had some excellent international players. UNC has had a few very good international players as well. The advantage is that many internationals have trained for a few years with the youth teams at professional clubs--so they've had some excellent coaching, training and game experience against other youth/development clubs--and they often tend to be a year older than their American class counterparts, though that's not always the case. If you watch internationals play here, you can see that some have better technical and decision-making skills than their American teammates. This isn't to suggest that all internationals are good/very good players: A lot of U..S. teams have international players, and many of them are no better than U.S. players. As with all players, soccer demands both athleticism and tech skills--and if you are technically strong but not a great athlete, you may not be all that effective. But many are quite good. One of the reasons Pittsburgh was so good last year was that they have a midfielder from Nigeria, I think, who is an excellent player--strong, quick, talented.

I've taken note of how good Memphis has been the last several years, but only got round to looking at their roster this past season. Good grief: three quarters of the Memphis roster is international. The team has at least 10 players from Canada alone, with others from Germany, Japan, and other countries. It's crazy. Too many.

I'm not opposed to internationals but think there should be a limit on the number of internationals on U.S. college teams--pick a number: 5, 6?

As for whether they should play at all, I suppose if a player had a pro contract and was getting paid prior to signing with a U.S. college team, one could argue that they shouldn't play college soccer here. I don't know if there are any NCAA rules pertaining to this. I think that a number of internatioals may not have getting paid but were just training with pro-club youth squads--but I'm just guessing. I think our Hofmann played for a second division pro league in Germany (2nd or 3rd division). She probably did sign a contract of some kind. and might have been making a little money, but probably not much at all. I simply don't know. It's an issue worth more exploration.

As Scores notes above, top U.S. men's college teams are /loaded/ with international players. I think it's a bit much--but it seems to me it's up to the coaches to complain about it, if they're so inclined, and they apparently haven't as internationals have been a staple of high-level men's college soccer for a long time.

 

[turbovol]

Any news on the spring schedule?

Probably coming soon...

 

[MAD]

Updated roster, with 20 players listed. They include transfers Cuneio and Latino. That they are listed
may mean that they are enrolled and thus can participate in spring practice, which would be a very good thing.
I say that because other transfers are not listed on the roster, which I assume means that they've not yet enrolled and probably won't until the
fall and thus will not participate in spring practice. In a perfect world you'd want all your transfers to take part in spring practice,
because the fall preseason training period is short--at most 3 weeks, if that--and the coaches have to make a lot of decisions
in a short period of time (and in some cases did not make the right decisions last year).

When the other transfers and the incoming freshman arrive we'll be back up to a roster of 30 or so, which is a lot--arguably
a bit too large. We should not lack for overall talent. We may lack experience at certain positions, and cohesion early on, what with a LOT
of new players--but it should be a group with a nice mix of experience and young talent. It's up to the coaches to take it from there.

2024 Soccer Roster - University of Tennessee Athletics

The official 2024 Soccer Roster for the University of Tennessee Volunteers

utsports.com

Last years roster had 32 players, that seems like a lot.

Out of those 32 players, there are 16 returning and 16 moving on.

 

[MAD]

This was from back in December just to give you an idea of some of the ages of internationals.





On the bench they have a 21 year old Senior from Boston then right below him is a 22 year old Freshman from Argentina!

 

[scores4fun]

Where did you play soccer, if I may ask?

I had the same thought as you--about the NCAA setting a limit on the number of international players on a team--a few years ago when Florida State was first emerging as a college power. I looked at FSU's roster and was surprised to see the number of internationals--at least 8 or so, as I recall. Signing internationals was a big priority for Krikorian--and no doubt his teams benefited from doing so. He had some excellent international players. UNC has had a few very good international players as well. The advantage is that many internationals have trained for a few years with the youth teams at professional clubs--so they've had some excellent coaching, training and game experience against other youth/development clubs--and they often tend to be a year older than their American class counterparts, though that's not always the case. If you watch internationals play here, you can see that some have better technical and decision-making skills than their American teammates. This isn't to suggest that all internationals are good/very good players: A lot of U..S. teams have international players, and many of them are no better than U.S. players. As with all players, soccer demands both athleticism and tech skills--and if you are technically strong but not a great athlete, you may not be all that effective. But many are quite good. One of the reasons Pittsburgh was so good last year was that they have a midfielder from Nigeria, I think, who is an excellent player--strong, quick, talented.

I've taken note of how good Memphis has been the last several years, but only got round to looking at their roster this past season. Good grief: three quarters of the Memphis roster is international. The team has at least 10 players from Canada alone, with others from Germany, Japan, and other countries. It's crazy. Too many.

I'm not opposed to internationals but think there should be a limit on the number of internationals on U.S. college teams--pick a number: 5, 6?

As for whether they should play at all, I suppose if a player had a pro contract and was getting paid prior to signing with a U.S. college team, one could argue that they shouldn't play college soccer here. I don't know if there are any NCAA rules pertaining to this. I think that a number of internatioals may not have getting paid but were just training with pro-club youth squads--but I'm just guessing. I think our Hofmann played for a second division pro league in Germany (2nd or 3rd division). She probably did sign a contract of some kind. and might have been making a little money, but probably not much at all. I simply don't know. It's an issue worth more exploration.

As Scores notes above, top U.S. men's college teams are /loaded/ with international players. I think it's a bit much--but it seems to me it's up to the coaches to complain about it, if they're so inclined, and they apparently haven't as internationals have been a staple of high-level men's college soccer for a long time.

So a little background to go along with the question you asked.

I grew up in Myrtle Beach (Socastee to be exact). I played club soccer for Coastal Soccer Club (formerly CFC). The head of our club was Paul Banta who was the coach at Coastal Carolina University. He was an icon at CCU. He was an American coach but had load of contacts internationally. So most of the players at CCU when I was growing up were from England and they happened to be our club coaches when I was growing up. Loved those coaches to death! Amazing people. Still in contact with many. One of my coaches, his son JAckson Conway played for ATL Utd but just moved to the Charleston Battery. So, I played for CCU after high school. Paul Banta my club director got fired after my first year. New coach came in, he was from England. Previous head coach at Charleston Southern U. Did wonderful things there. CCU was a step up. Always been a soccer school before football was added. I played one year for that coach. He had me starting at right back although I had never played there in my life. I was a CM! So i played and started there all year. I beat out the english kids he brought in to play right back. So we go through spring soccer and after season we have our end of year coach/player meetings. He looked me straight in the face and said I am taking your scholarship $ and bring in more players from England to replace you. So after that I made my decision to transfer.

So, I transferred to Limestone College (now Limestone University). I knew the coach (American) I played summer ball with him and a about 4 of my friends from high school were playing there. The coach i knew got let go the next year after I had to sit out for transferring down. New coach (from Scotland) comes in. Didnt know anything about him. Ended up being a great guy. I ended up playing 2 years for him at Limestone. We were just an okay program but were getting better year after year. Now the program is a top 20 D2 program year in and year out. But the Scottish coach set me up trials with St. Mirren FC and Clyde FC in Scotland during December my senior year. I flew over and actually stayed with my coaches parents. Only ended up going to St Mirren. They liked me so they invited me back out in the summer for pre-season. I couldnt get a work visa worked out so I ended coming back to the States after pre-season. Worked some camps from time to time and just kind of gave up on my dream. Played some mens league til i was about 38 when i popped my achilles and i havent played in the last 7 years!

 

[MAD]

No. Having played soccer at the D1 and D2 level I feel there is way too many international players in the US college game. I feel there needs to be some sort of cap per team. The D1 school I played for I would say the roster was 65-70% international players but now is probably closer to 75-80% international players. The D2 school I played for at the time was maybe 30% international players but now is close to 75% international players.

Can you imagine?
Missouri State roster last year.

 

[MAD]

So a little background to go along with the question you asked.

I grew up in Myrtle Beach (Socastee to be exact). I played club soccer for Coastal Soccer Club (formerly CFC). The head of our club was Paul Banta who was the coach at Coastal Carolina University. He was an icon at CCU. He was an American coach but had load of contacts internationally. So most of the players at CCU when I was growing up were from England and they happened to be our club coaches when I was growing up. Loved those coaches to death! Amazing people. Still in contact with many. One of my coaches, his son JAckson Conway played for ATL Utd but just moved to the Charleston Battery. So, I played for CCU after high school. Paul Banta my club director got fired after my first year. New coach came in, he was from England. Previous head coach at Charleston Southern U. Did wonderful things there. CCU was a step up. Always been a soccer school before football was added. I played one year for that coach. He had me starting at right back although I had never played there in my life. I was a CM! So i played and started there all year. I beat out the english kids he brought in to play right back. So we go through spring soccer and after season we have our end of year coach/player meetings. He looked me straight in the face and said I am taking your scholarship $ and bring in more players from England to replace you. So after that I made my decision to transfer.

So, I transferred to Limestone College (now Limestone University). I knew the coach (American) I played summer ball with him and an about 4 of my friends from high school were playing there. The coach i knew got let go the next year after I had to sit out for transferring down. New coach (from Scotland) comes in. Didnt know anything about him. Ended up being a great guy. I ended up playing 2 years for him at Limestone. We were just an okay program but were getting better year after year. Now the program is a top 20 D2 program year in and year out. But the Scottish coach set me up trials with St. Mirren FC and Clyde FC in Scotland during December my senior year. I flew over and actually stayed with my coaches parents. Only ended up going to St Mirren. They liked me so they invited me back out in the summer for pre-season. I couldnt get a work visa worked out so I ended coming back to the States after pre-season. Worked some camps from time to time and just kind of gave up on my dream. Played some mens league til i was about 38 when i popped my achilles and i havent played in the last 7 years!

This might be the coolest post I have read out of the over 6500 in this thread, thanks for sharing.
That must have been such a cool feeling beating out the English players. And the experience of having trials in Scotland sound epic.

 

[MAD]

Lady Vols Soccer posting some back to school photos.

 

[scores4fun]

This might be the coolest post I have read out of the over 6500 in this thread, thanks for sharing.
That must have been such a cool feeling beating out the English players. And the experience of having trials in Scotland sound epic.

Thank you for the kind words! Soccer was my life growing up. All I wanted was to play pro soccer. I gave up so much growing up to try to achieve my goals and I feel like i did. I had opportunities to come back and try to play in USL and even MLS but I was just done. I wanted to move on with my life. I regret nothing! Ive had some amazing experiences because of soccer. Played with and against some great players. Etcheverry, Moreno, Pope, Agoos, Lalas (who is as much as a prick on the field as off), Preki, Dempsey, Armas, BIG Zach Thornton, Marsch, Christopher Wreh (told me he was related to George Weah). I got a red card in a game for a foul on Dema Kovalenko. I will take it to the grave, that it wasnt a foul. He dove so bad.

 

[turbovol]

This was from back in December just to give you an idea of some of the ages of internationals.


View attachment 613217View attachment 613218


On the bench they have a 21 year old Senior from Boston then right below him is a 22 year old Freshman from Argentina!

Wow--what a find. This is absurd. There should be rules limiting age of freshmen players and players overall.