Lady Vols Soccer ⚽️ Tennessee @ Virginia Tech 11/15 Friday 7PM Blacksburg VA ⚽️ NCAA TOURNAMENT First Round

#5,451
#5,451
When the broadcast announcers were interviewing Lawton after the match they said Tennessee has moved back into position for the SEC tourney at tenth position. They need to get wins in their next two games and they might even make the NCAA tourney. And yes, Kirt definitely needs to be starting Lawton and playing her more per match. She is our go-to player from here on out. I would assume that Kate Runyon is one of the eight out for the remainder of the season after colliding with the opposing goalie in the previous match. I hope I'm wrong on that.
kregman said:
Our offense dies when it goes to Nelson. Kirt subbed out Lawton and Fusco for too long. Simmonds for the last few games has no control with the ball. Yet we got a road win.
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#5,452
#5,452
jeebie said:
When the broadcast announcers were interviewing Lawton after the match they said Tennessee has moved back into position for the SEC tourney at tenth position. They need to get wins in their next two games and they might even make the NCAA tourney. And yes, Kirt definitely needs to be starting Lawton and playing her more per match. She is our go-to player from here on out. I would assume that Kate Runyon is one of the eight out for the remainder of the season after colliding with the opposing goalie in the previous match. I hope I'm wrong on that.
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They said on broadcast Runyon was day to day. Hope that is true.
 
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#5,454
#5,454

Brace By Lawton Lifts Lady Vols To 3-2 Win At Mizzou​


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COLUMBIA, Mo. – A pair of goals by graduate Sizzy Lawton led the Lady Vols to a 3-2 victory at Missouri on Thursday.

Sophomore Macaira Midgley rounded out the scoring for Tennessee (7-4-4, 2-3-3 SEC) with the game-winner off an assist by Lawton. Junior Jordan Fusco and redshirt-junior Sydney Hennessey also logged assists on the night. Redshirt-freshman Abby Reisz made the start in goal, collecting one save, and redshirt-sophomore Ally Zazzara closed out the game.

Brianna Buels and Kylee Simmons scored goals for Mizzou (5-7-3, 1-6-1 SEC).

Fusco got the first shot of the game four minutes into play, getting loose at the top of the Mizzou box and ripping a shot but missing wide left.

Simmons countered on the next possession with a blast from 25 yards out, but it sailed over the net.

It continued to be a back-and-forth affair with the shot count at two for each team until Lawton found the net in the 33rdminute, running onto a serve from Hennessey and taking a touch past a Mizzou defender and into the box before burying the ball in the top right corner.

Reisz made a diving save four minutes later to maintain UT's one-point advantage through halftime.

The Lady Vols wasted no time extending their lead in the second half, going up by two 26 seconds after the whistle when Fusco drove into the box and passed the ball off to Lawton who sent it into the far side netting.

The Tigers responded with a goal of their own in the 55th minute when Buels connected on a pass from Jenna Bartels and fired it into the top corner of the goal.

In the 59th minute, Lawton beat a defender on the sideline and took a touch into the box before sending an excellently placed pass through the Missouri defense to find Midgley who collected the serve and placed it into the lower left corner of the net to put the Big Orange back on top by two.

Five minutes later, a handball in the box resulted in a penalty kick that Simmons converted on to pull the Tigers back within one.

That proved to be the last goal in the scoring frenzy, and UT went on to take the 3-2 win on the road.

UP NEXT: Tennessee will play its final home game of the regular season on Sunday, hosting Texas A&M at 2 p.m. ET. Prior to the match, the Lady Vols will recognize 11 seniors in a Senior Day ceremony.

HAVE A NIGHT, SIZZY: The Pennsylvania native logged two goals and an assist against Missouri, moving her point total to 14 on the season to tie Kameron Simmonds as the team leader.

OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: The Lady Vols scored three goals on 12 shots at Mizzou, with nine of those shots placed on target for a shot-on-goal percentage of .750. Coming into the match, UT had a shot-on-goal percentage of .441 for the season.
 
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#5,457
#5,457
jeebie said:
When the broadcast announcers were interviewing Lawton after the match they said Tennessee has moved back into position for the SEC tourney at tenth position. They need to get wins in their next two games and they might even make the NCAA tourney. And yes, Kirt definitely needs to be starting Lawton and playing her more per match. She is our go-to player from here on out. I would assume that Kate Runyon is one of the eight out for the remainder of the season after colliding with the opposing goalie in the previous match. I hope I'm wrong on that.
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That is promising.
 
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#5,458
#5,458

Tennessee soccer picks up vital win at Missouri​



Tennessee soccer picked up a vital victory as it beat the struggling Missouri Tigers 3-2 on Thursday.

The Lady Vols (7-4-4, 2-3-3 SEC) traveled to Columbia in desperate need of a win against a struggling Missouri (5-6-3, 1-5-1) side.

The Lady Vols started the game without some familiar faces. Kate Runyon and Linette Hofmann were both out with injury.

The 2023 season has proved difficult for the Lady Vols as injuries have ravaged their squad. With eight players already out for the season, the depth of Tennessee’s team was tested.

The first half was a cagey affair with just eight shots between the SEC opponents.

Early on, Missouri found space behind the wingbacks of Tennessee, who were playing high up the field.

An early chance for the Tigers ended up being their best of the first half as Brianna Buels dashed in behind the Lady Vols’ back line. However, her cross, which might have been an attempted shot, failed to find a teammate and trickled wide.

The Tigers continued to find space on the flanks early in the first half, but they failed to create any more significant chances.

Tennessee was largely kept quiet by the Missouri defense throughout the first half. The Lady Vols, who average nearly 17 shots a game, were kept to just five first half shots.

However, the game was turned on its head in the 32nd minute when Sizzy Lawton found the back of the net to give the Lady Vols a 1-0 lead.

Lawton’s fifth goal of the season came after a Missouri defender failed to clear a cross, bringing a strong defensive performance from the Tigers to a halt. Tennessee had been growing in the game, and the goal only served to strengthen its performance.



Jordan Fusco was energetic and creative as ever, dominating the midfield and leading a late first half charge for the Lady Vols. Fusco and company created a few decent chances but failed to add to the lead as the first half came to a close.

The second half was the antithesis of the first as madness ensued throughout the latter 45 minutes. Just 22 seconds in, Lawton scored her second goal of the game and sixth of the year.

Lawton’s cross came at a difficult angle as the ball found its way over Tigers goalkeeper Bella Hollenbach in what was a fortunate second for the Lady Vols.

Leading 2-0, Tennessee continued to apply pressure, but it was Missouri that found the next goal just 10 minutes after the Lady Vols' second. Tigers winger Buels found the back of the net from an awkward finish courtesy of a brilliant assist from SEC top scorer Kylee Simmons.

Momentum swung again just moments later as Macaira Midgley finished a sweeping Tennessee attack. Lawton’s dominant night continued as she used her pace and skill to open up space for herself before finding Midgley in the middle of the box.

Her strike at the 59th minute was her first goal of the season and put the Lady Vols up 3-1.

However, the Tigers were not deterred and clawed their way into the game once again. Simmons converted a penalty kick in the 64th minute, which was her SEC-leading 11th goal of the season.

The Lady Vols defense was resilient in the final 25 minutes, minimizing opportunities for a Missouri team in desperate need of an equalizer. Neither team was able to create any significant chances, and the Tigers’ comeback hopes faded.

The Lady Vols’ win proved to be enough to place themselves in the top 10 of the SEC. At the moment, it guarantees them an SEC tournament berth.

The Lady Vols will look to ride their momentum as they face Texas A&M at Regal Soccer Stadium on Sunday.
 
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#5,459
#5,459
Lawton has been our go-to player all year--indisputably our best player.

Kirt is absolutely clueless--seriously. He went back to starting Washington at defensive mid tonight. Absolutely stupid. She is a bad player.
She is WAY out of position CONSTANTLY and contributes nothing to our defense or attack. We could have easily given up a goal or two in the first 11 minutes--Missouri had, like, four near-chances.
 
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#5,462
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jeebie said:
When the broadcast announcers were interviewing Lawton after the match they said Tennessee has moved back into position for the SEC tourney at tenth position. They need to get wins in their next two games and they might even make the NCAA tourney. And yes, Kirt definitely needs to be starting Lawton and playing her more per match. She is our go-to player from here on out. I would assume that Kate Runyon is one of the eight out for the remainder of the season after colliding with the opposing goalie in the previous match. I hope I'm wrong on that.
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They said during the game Runyon js day to day she will be back
 
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#5,463
#5,463
MAD said:
Any news if she is injured?
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She went out after a collision during the Georgia game, but she came back on in the latter portion of the second half. I noted she had a brace or sleeve of some sort on her quad, but she was noticeably slower and less aggressive this game and then limped off the field during one the substitutions this game. I know we are digging into the bench to have the needed depth to close out the season, but I wasn’t really impressed to see someone who is clearly not 100% playing so many minutes even if it is a must-win.
 
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#5,466
#5,466
One big plus from last night games was that Midgley, who's been so good in possession for us, actually had at least two shots on goal and scored on one of them. We need her to not just possess the ball, at which she is very good, but to also get forward and into positions where she can get passes and shoot. We've been too reliant on Fusco, who is wonderful but not a great shooter, and we simply need more shooting/scoring options.

The texas a&m game will be tough. I haven't seen the aggies play but they've got talent and have had a bit of hard luck this year. Last night they had 25 shots against South Carolina, 10 on frame, compared to 9 shots, 6 SOG for SC--but in classic South Carolina fashion they found a way to keep the aggies from scoring and managed to squeeze one in themselves (it was apparently an a&M own goal), and the gamecocks won 1-0. A&M coach Guerrieri is clearly frustrated that his team has played better than their 3-3-2 SEC record. They, like us, will be desperate for a win. We need it.
 
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#5,467
#5,467
Just some random thoughts from the day after:
The announcers were fair in their commentary. They gave Tennessee a lot of credit. Commented a couple of times about how Tennessee was woefully undermanned with 8 players lost for the season. My understanding, Runyon is not one lost for the season.

Missouri has obviously struggled this year. After our second and third goals the announcers lamented how our recent score probably meant defeat for Missouri. Yet we managed to let them right back in the match. Announcers wondered outloud why we didn't passed the ball more and slow the game down but since we did not they were glad to have a chance at the win.

Hard to determine if our lack of good defense is because of a depleted roster or because we aren't very good. Announcers seem to believe it's the depleted roster.

Lawton and Midgley played very well last night. Simmonds is really struggling for what ever reason. Doesn't appear to have the speed to play wide. Don't remember her winning a 50/50 ball last night.

We were fortunate to win last night. We did play better with a lead. Perhaps we can build off of this positive. Hope so. I'll be watching.
 
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#5,470
#5,470
Absolutely super-impressed by Lawton this season. She belies any ideas that there aren't good soccer players in the Ivy League. She
is tough, quick, makes good decisions, can score. She had a fantastic game last night. She should have been starting and playing 70 minutes since early in the SEC schedule, and the fact that she didn't points up a problem at the top with bad personnel decisions. Kirt should have been rotating Simmonds and Runyon at center-forward this season, with Lawton starting on the left. That would have been the wise thing to do--and maybe it will dawn on him and the other coaches to do that in these last two games if Runyon can play. And then he could bring in Greiner--who's got real speed and potential--to relieve Lawton on the left. Greiner has been coming in as our CF sub--but she's clearly better suited to wide forward and will surely be playing wide next year, what with Lawton, Diaz and Nelson gone.

I think Simmonds is giving the coaches a bit of a dilemma now. We all expected her to be our bell cow this season, especially with Thomas out. Her physical/athletic qualiaties are apparent--and with her Jamaican NT hype, etc., we have expected goals and assists and SEC stardom. But there's been no SEC stardom because there have been no goals or assists from Simmonds--zero--since we started our SEC play. She's worked hard, to be sure, but she hasn't been influential playing wide--and has had very few good crosses or centering passes. I thought she played better at CF last night--seems a more natural position for her. Where will she play Sunday if Runyon is healthy and available? That's an interesting and key question. At the end of the day you have to produce--I don't care who you are--and players who don't produce shouldn't be guaranteed a starting spot game after game. We shall see.

I must credit Kirt and the coaches were one wise move in yesterday's game. I think Agresti came in at defensive mid with something like 30/25 minutes to go in the game, and from the 25 minute mark we were working to protect a one-goal lead. Agresti played very well defensively in the last 25 minutes--was active, got around the pitch, made a number of good plays. I was certain that Kirt was going to take her out and insert our other defensive mid, and that she would drift out of position a few times and jeopardize our lead. But thankfully he kept Agresti in the game.
 
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#5,475
#5,475

Tennessee soccer looks to continue winning form against Texas A&M​


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After Thursday’s win at Missouri, Tennessee soccer looks to carry positive momentum into Sunday’s game against Texas A&M.

The Lady Vols (7-4-4, 2-3-3 SEC) won their first game in six on Thursday, while the Aggies (7-6-3, 3-3-2) lost at home to South Carolina on Thursday. Texas A&M currently leads the SEC West by three points over Arkansas.

Kate Runyon was absent from Thursday’s win at Missouri but could return to the Tennessee lineup ahead of Sunday’s game. Kameron Simmonds, who was day-to-day going into Thursday’s game, did play and is expected to do so again on Sunday.

Although she has missed two games due to injury, Simmonds has not scored in any of the six conference games so far. She is currently tied for the team lead in goals with Sizzy Lawton.

Goal scoring has been a strength lately for the Lady Vols. After a shutout against LSU, Tennessee found the back of the net once against Georgia and three times against Missouri. The goal-scoring contributions have come from different players all season, and that is expected to continue on Sunday.

“It’s by committee at this stage,” Tennessee soccer head coach Joe Kirt said. “It’s finding ways to get numbers in the box and putting balls in positions where we can score. It’s going to be how we can continue to create scoring chances and get the delivery we need. We’ve got plenty of players that can score goals.”



Ahead of the Missouri game, Kirt was focused on making sure that his team’s performances did not waver despite frustration surrounding results. Against a solid Texas A&M team, that will continue to be important.

“A lot of the performances we’ve had have been really good in many, many ways,” Kirt said. “It’s managing the performance and continuing to stay on track and do the things we’re doing.”

The Lady Vols have been weaker defensively than they were earlier in the season. Tennessee has given up two goals in each of its last two games, which is the first two-game stretch of giving up multiple goals since the nonconference schedule.

Texas A&M possesses strong attacking threats, with seven different players having scored three or more goals this season. The team leader is Arizona State transfer Jazmine Wilkinson, who has six goals this season.

The Lady Vols will have many threats to stop on Sunday but will also need to create their own attacking opportunities to have success.

“We’ve got to find ways to score, but we’ve also got to find ways to keep the ball out of the back of our net,” Kirt said. “I think it’s a combination of those two things and finding ways to make plays in both of those situations. Our team knows that and understands that, but they also know and understand how talented we are.”
 
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