No. 10 UT Takes Down Georgia, 3-1
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The tenth-ranked Volunteers picked up a crucial 3-1win on Sunday, keeping their SEC East title hopes alive by defeating a Georgia team that was undefeated in divisional matches.
UT dominated possession for 60 percent of play and held the Bulldogs, who were averaging 21.3 shots per game, to just 11 shots on the day.
Tennessee (14-2-0, 7-2 SEC) got goals from junior
Cariel Ellis, senior
Mackenzie George and redshirt-sophomore
Jaida Thomas. In goal, junior
Lindsey Romig made two saves before exiting after a collision with a Georgia forward. Senior Ashely Gabor took over in the 41st minute and closed out the game, making four saves.
Tori Penn found the net for Georgia (11-4-2, 4-3-2 SEC), and Emory Wegener tallied five saves in the contest.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with Georgia getting off four shots to UT's seven.
The score remained knotted up at zero until UT got a corner kick with less than 15 seconds remaining in the half, and Ellis got a head on the serve by
Hannah Zaluski to record her first goal at Tennessee.
George opened up the scoring in the second half, driving a right-footed shot back across her body toward the far post to beat UGA's keeper in the 57th minute. Thomas earned the assist on the play, finding George just behind the penalty mark.
The Bulldogs pulled back within one 12 minutes later when Penn placed a shot into the side net of the far post from the left side of the box.
Thomas added an insurance goal in the 89th minute, receiving a pass from George and taking four touches toward the box before driving a shot into the back-right corner of the goal from the top of the eighteen.
UP NEXT: Tennessee will close out the regular season at home, hosting Kentucky in a 6 p.m. ET match on Thursday that will be broadcast on the SEC Network. The game will be UT's Senior Night, and before the game
Brooke Wilson,
Ashley Gabor,
Mackenzie Ostrom,
Hannah Tillett and
Wrenne French will be recognized.
PLAYING FOR A TROPHY: A win on Thursday against Kentucky will earn UT it's second-straight SEC East division championship and position the Vols as the No. 2 seed entering the SEC Tournament, giving them a double-bye into the quarterfinals.
EVERYONE IS DANGEROUS: With Ellis' first goal of the season, 14 different Volunteers have now scored at least one goal this season, and 14 of UT's 42 goals have come from players off of the bench.
SECOND HALF TEAM: Tennessee is outscoring opponents 28-6 after halftime, has scored nine goals during the final 10 minutes of regulation and has landed two golden goals this season.
GEORGE HEATING UP: Senior
Mackenzie George has scored goals in back-to-back matches and added her eighth assist of the season against Georgia. She leads the team in assists and is tied with
Brooke Wilson at fourth in goals scored with four.
BALANCED ATTACK: Thomas' goal against the Bulldogs was her seventh of the season, creating a three-way tie for first in goals scored with
Claudia Dipasupil and
Taylor Huff.