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Tennessee soccer ‘has to compete for one another and Tennessee’ against Mississippi State
Tennessee soccer will look to continue its successful season when it travels to Mississippi State on Friday.
The Lady Vols (6-2-2, 1-1-1 SEC) drew against South Carolina in Columbia on Sunday, while the Bulldogs (6-3-2, 1-2-0 SEC) lost against LSU on Sunday. The two strengths of each team will meet on Friday, as Tennessee’s strong attacking play will look to break down a Mississippi State defense that allows less than a goal a game.
As he has been all season, head coach Joe Kirt was impressed with his team’s play on Sunday night.
“The team continues to perform at a really high level,” Kirt said. “Their effort, their willingness to work and compete for one another and Tennessee has been tremendous. They continue to be confident and composed on the ball.”
This effort led Tennessee to a draw against a very strong South Carolina team. Kate Runyon’s goal gave the Lady Vols the lead, but a penalty with five minutes left gave South Carolina a draw.
Between the win against Florida on Thursday and the draw against South Carolina on Sunday, the Lady Vols have only allowed one goal, which came off a set piece. Kirt has continued to rotate between Abby Reisz and Ally Zazzara in goal, and both have played well for Tennessee.
“They both continue to get better each game in possession and they continue to make plays,” Kirt said. “We had two shutouts this week in the run of play, which was great. All four goals that we have allowed in conference play have been set piece-type goals.”
Set pieces have proven difficult for the Lady Vols to defend. Against Arkansas, Tennessee allowed three goals from set pieces, leading to a 3-1 loss. However, all three of those goals came on the second phase of play from the set piece.
Although this phase of play is harder to defend against, Kirt believes there is still more that can be done defensively.
“It’s not the initial organization, it’s the second ball when things are a little more chaotic in terms of what’s happening,” Kirt said. “Those are more difficult to necessarily organize, but it comes down to competing and attacking the ball.”
With Kameron Simmonds returning from her two international games with Jamaica, Tennessee’s attack should be stronger than it was on Sunday. This could mean trouble, but the Bulldogs will still be strong defensively and in goal, as they have been all year.
“They have a good goalkeeper,” Kirt said. “They’re a good team, as everybody in the league is.”
Their goalkeeper, Maddy Anderson, has only allowed seven goals on 33 shots this season. In order for the Tennessee attack to get by her, they will have to continuously create chances for the entire 90 minutes.
The Lady Vols currently sit 15th in RPI, putting them in a good position to host one or two tournament games. As Tennessee continues to make a push towards a strong seed in the SEC and NCAA tournaments, Kirt believes that the only priority should be to win games.
“The more you win, the higher your seed is and the better opportunity you have to host,” Kirt said. “It’s continuing to grow and layer performances on top of one another, and our team has done a phenomenal job of that all year.”
Sizzy Lawton had a beautiful shot