I'm surprised the Vols didn't find a way to keep Brooke Wilson. Reason: She can score goals, and goal-scorers aren't that easy to find in collegiate soccer. That we aren't desperate for goal-scorers may be one reason, and the other is that with new players coming in, you need seniors/graduates to leave, in part to free up scholarship money for the incoming group. IMO our incoming freshman class is a bit too big. We lost 7 players from last year's squad, including transfers, and have 10 new players on the roster. We've got a 31-player roster, which is pretty big and a larger than what we've typically had.
The match in Chapel Hill is gonna be tough. Tennessee has never won against the Tar Heels.
Soccer History vs University of North Carolina from Sep 5, 1997 - Mar 27, 2021
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It’s been awhile since Tennessee and Duke have played. They have played 4 times, all of those matched went into OT.Yes, we got embarrassed by North Carolina, in Knoxville, two years ago--knocked us out of the NCAA, effectively.
I think this Vol team has the potential to play with and maybe even beat North Carolina, if we press them, and bring the right players off the bench. North Carolina plays a lot of players, so they're starters will be fresh late in the game. UNC had trouble scoring last year, but the Heels roster is chock-full of highly-touted prospects.
The Duke game will be equally tough. I just watched a good part of the Wake Forest vs. Duke match in the ACC tourney last year--I think it was last year. Wake Forest won it--played very good defense.
It’s been awhile since Tennessee and Duke have played. They have played 4 times, all of those matched went into OT.
Thanks for explaining this, was disappointed that Taylor Huff didn’t make the World Cup.Duke's best offensive player, Michelle Cooper has been selected for the U.S.U20
national team roster, as the U20 World Cup starts August 10 and runs to August 28. If the U.S. does well in that tournament, Cooper
may not be available for our match with Duke on August 25. North Carolina also had one player chosen. Taylor Huff wasn't picked. There is
a lot of same-school bias in these NT selections--always a few players from the top ACC schools (UNC, Duke, UVa) and top Pac12 schools (Stanford, USC, etc.). All those schools have some excellent players, but I'm convinced there is bias. Not one SEC player was selected.
When Bunny Shaw was a senior, she had an incredible season. She was, in my estimation, easily one of the 5 best players in America, more like one of the top 2--maybe even the best. Stanford had a player, Macario, who's an outstanding player and had a great season when Shaw was a senior for us. (Macario now plays for Lyon while of course Shaw plays for Manchester City in the NWSL. Collegiate soccer has a "best player of the year" award called the Mac Hermann Trophy. Macario won the award--and Shaw //didn't even make the semifinal// list. I gave the Mac Hermann committee/voters hell via Twitter for that outrageous oversight.
100% agree, Taylor Huff is a special player and Tennessee is lucky to have her.IMO, Taylor is a lock to make the national team very soon. She is young but far too talented to be ignored for long. She was outstanding as a freshman and, assuming no change in her approach to life and the sport, she will grow into a team leadership role very naturally and very quickly. I think we are in for some very special years in Lady Vol soccer.