armchair
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Fans have been clamoring for a spring soccer update (sort of), so here are a few thoughts:
First, as with all programs, there has been a bit of turnover. For one thing, longtime Vol soccer assistant Joe Mallia seems to have left the program. There's been no announcement, but he's been removed from the "coaches" page on the UTsports.com soccer site, which is a pretty obvious indication that he's no longer with the program. There was a report on a soccer site that former Maryland women's coach Jonathan Morgan might have joined the Vol staff, as he was seen weeks ago at a youth tournament wearing UT garb. I don't know if that is true--again, no announcement--but Maryland recently sacked Morgan as its women's coach (officially, he was asked to resign and did so), and Morgan is a former colleague of Vol Coach Brian Pensky, who spent years at Maryland before being hired by UT, so it wouldn't be a surprise if Pensky asked him to join our staff. We'll have to await some sort of official word.
Four players have left the program. Three who were among the excellent 2015 class of 10 signed by Pensky transferred after their first year. I assume that they received word that their playing time going forward might be limited. I don't know that to be true--situations vary, of course--but that is usually why kids transfer; they are told that it might be tough to get significant playing time, they want to play, and so they transfer to another school where they have a better chance of getting on the field. The fourth player to leave was rising senior Amy Neal. Her departure was a bit of a surprise, given that she's been one of our better players and scorers (on a team, admittedly, that has struggled to score) that last two years. I think with Hannah Wilkson coming back for another year, and quite a bit of young attacking talent on the squad, Pensky might have informed Neal that her PT would go down this year, and so she left to play her final year at Washington State. Again, that's just a guess. But why else leave? And she's not from the state of Washington.
The team played half a dozen spring games in April--and true to recent form, scored some goals and defeated the weak teams on the spring calendar--Lee University, Elon and Tennessee Tech--and struggled to score and lost to or tied the better teams we played this spring. We lost to UVA, a premier program, 0-2; lost to (hated) auburn 0-2; had a scoreless draw with Wake Forest (I believe) and had a 1-1 tie with Va.Tech.
I did not see any of the spring games, unfortunately. I'm sure Pensky tried different lineup combinations--and, maybe, one can hope, some formations different from the 4-3-3 that he seems wedded to and that simply hasn't been very effective the last three years. The coming fall season is a big one for the program: The Vols haven't made the NCAA tournament in three years, I believe, didn't even make the SEC tourney last year--and it is simply time to play better and get results. Pensky and his staff have done a good job of recruiting--as mentioned, there is considerable young talent on the squad already and another seemingly talented freshman class coming in over the summer. The question is, can Pensky start winning more games in a competitive conference that seems to have a lot of solid coaches?
Last year the Vols were solid (but not great) defensively but anemic--a mess--in attack. We were not a good enough possession team, and couldn't score goals. We need to keep--or even strengthen--our defensive play and get much better in attack. You can't average 1 goal a game in SEC play, as we did, and expect to win many games. Pensky would tell us that the early loss to injury of both Wilkinson (for the third straight year) and starting midfielder Michelle Christy hurt the Vols offensively, and that would be true. Still, we should have been better. He tried a bunch of players at the forward position but there was little cohesion and little help from a young midfield trio that struggled to get forward or from our ineffective outside backs. The Vols struggled to sustain possession in our opponents' half of the field--so much so that it was hard to evaluate the forwards. On top of that, I don't think the coaches put the best attacking players on the field--even when trailing in the second half of some games.
Pensky and staff simply have to figure out who the best players are and get them in a formation that takes best advantage of our talent. I'd like see the Vols pack the midfield more, use 1 or 2 forwards sted of three, and get more players on the attacking half of the field and start playing more in and around the box--something we did not do last year. Wilkinson, if she can stay healthy for a change, will help--help in run of play and help, with her big size, on corner kicks. UT's corner kick play fell apart late last year and cost us a couple of games. Bottom line: a promising collection of talent, for sure--but it's time to put it together effectively and start scoring more and kicking some SEC butt.
First, as with all programs, there has been a bit of turnover. For one thing, longtime Vol soccer assistant Joe Mallia seems to have left the program. There's been no announcement, but he's been removed from the "coaches" page on the UTsports.com soccer site, which is a pretty obvious indication that he's no longer with the program. There was a report on a soccer site that former Maryland women's coach Jonathan Morgan might have joined the Vol staff, as he was seen weeks ago at a youth tournament wearing UT garb. I don't know if that is true--again, no announcement--but Maryland recently sacked Morgan as its women's coach (officially, he was asked to resign and did so), and Morgan is a former colleague of Vol Coach Brian Pensky, who spent years at Maryland before being hired by UT, so it wouldn't be a surprise if Pensky asked him to join our staff. We'll have to await some sort of official word.
Four players have left the program. Three who were among the excellent 2015 class of 10 signed by Pensky transferred after their first year. I assume that they received word that their playing time going forward might be limited. I don't know that to be true--situations vary, of course--but that is usually why kids transfer; they are told that it might be tough to get significant playing time, they want to play, and so they transfer to another school where they have a better chance of getting on the field. The fourth player to leave was rising senior Amy Neal. Her departure was a bit of a surprise, given that she's been one of our better players and scorers (on a team, admittedly, that has struggled to score) that last two years. I think with Hannah Wilkson coming back for another year, and quite a bit of young attacking talent on the squad, Pensky might have informed Neal that her PT would go down this year, and so she left to play her final year at Washington State. Again, that's just a guess. But why else leave? And she's not from the state of Washington.
The team played half a dozen spring games in April--and true to recent form, scored some goals and defeated the weak teams on the spring calendar--Lee University, Elon and Tennessee Tech--and struggled to score and lost to or tied the better teams we played this spring. We lost to UVA, a premier program, 0-2; lost to (hated) auburn 0-2; had a scoreless draw with Wake Forest (I believe) and had a 1-1 tie with Va.Tech.
I did not see any of the spring games, unfortunately. I'm sure Pensky tried different lineup combinations--and, maybe, one can hope, some formations different from the 4-3-3 that he seems wedded to and that simply hasn't been very effective the last three years. The coming fall season is a big one for the program: The Vols haven't made the NCAA tournament in three years, I believe, didn't even make the SEC tourney last year--and it is simply time to play better and get results. Pensky and his staff have done a good job of recruiting--as mentioned, there is considerable young talent on the squad already and another seemingly talented freshman class coming in over the summer. The question is, can Pensky start winning more games in a competitive conference that seems to have a lot of solid coaches?
Last year the Vols were solid (but not great) defensively but anemic--a mess--in attack. We were not a good enough possession team, and couldn't score goals. We need to keep--or even strengthen--our defensive play and get much better in attack. You can't average 1 goal a game in SEC play, as we did, and expect to win many games. Pensky would tell us that the early loss to injury of both Wilkinson (for the third straight year) and starting midfielder Michelle Christy hurt the Vols offensively, and that would be true. Still, we should have been better. He tried a bunch of players at the forward position but there was little cohesion and little help from a young midfield trio that struggled to get forward or from our ineffective outside backs. The Vols struggled to sustain possession in our opponents' half of the field--so much so that it was hard to evaluate the forwards. On top of that, I don't think the coaches put the best attacking players on the field--even when trailing in the second half of some games.
Pensky and staff simply have to figure out who the best players are and get them in a formation that takes best advantage of our talent. I'd like see the Vols pack the midfield more, use 1 or 2 forwards sted of three, and get more players on the attacking half of the field and start playing more in and around the box--something we did not do last year. Wilkinson, if she can stay healthy for a change, will help--help in run of play and help, with her big size, on corner kicks. UT's corner kick play fell apart late last year and cost us a couple of games. Bottom line: a promising collection of talent, for sure--but it's time to put it together effectively and start scoring more and kicking some SEC butt.
