⚽️ LADY VOLS SOCCER

Diversity and inclusion are winners with new hires at UT - Knox TN Today
In soccer news, new head coach Joe Kirt hired Edwards this week. The last time Tennessee had a female assistant coach in soccer was when then head coach Angela Kelly had former Lady Vol Keeley Dowling on her staff. The other assistant coach at that time was Kirt.

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Becky Edwards
Edwards served as an assistant coach at Penn for two years. As a player, she was a two-time First Team All-American at Florida State and then served on the staff as a graduate assistant. She also played on USA soccer teams and then professionally for nine years in the United States and abroad.

“Becky Edwards is one of the most outstanding student-athletes we had at FSU during my time there,” former Florida State head coach Mark Krikorian. “As a player, she was a coach on the field. Her playing experience, understanding of the game and her positive personality will be a great addition to the Tennessee women’s soccer program.”

Edwards hasn’t made it to Knoxville just yet. She currently is in Aubagne, France, as an assistant coach with the U.S. Under-20 Women’s Youth National Team for the Sud Ladies Cup, the final international match before the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica in August. Edwards will arrive in Tennessee later this month.

“She knows firsthand what success and development look like at the highest level, and there is no better mentor for our current and future players, many of whom aspire to achieve similar goals in their careers as Becky has accomplished,” Kirt said. “She is fully committed to player development on and off the field. We can’t wait for her to arrive on Rocky Top.”

Kirt also added another female to his staff in Macaulay Soto, who will serve as director of operations. She served in the same position for five years for women’s soccer at Virginia Tech and managed the recruiting database, coordinated equipment and video and oversaw all aspects of team travel.

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Macaulay Soto
Soto was an All-American soccer player at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and won an NCAA Division III national championship in 2012.

“We are thrilled to add Macaulay to our staff,” Kirt said. “She brings a wealth of experience, professionalism and a selfless approach to our team. She will be an integral part of our day-to-day operations and bring new ideas to enhance our student-athletes’ overall well-being and experience at Tennessee.”
 
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SEC Champion and Lady Red Wolves Standout, Hannah Tillet, Named Academy Director of Pre Academy and Grassroots Ambassador

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Hannah Tillett Named Red Wolves Academy Director of Pre Academy and Grassroots Ambassador
CHATTANOOGA, Tn. (Jun 13, 2022) - The Red Wolves are pleased to announce Hannah Tillett as the new Red Wolves Academy Director of Pre Academy and Grassroots Ambassador.

Tillett was raised in Huntington, Indiana and began her collegiate soccer career at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) after an impressive high school career. Tillett was selected as a finalist for the 2017 IndyStar Indiana Girls' Soccer Player of the Year. During her time with MTSU for two seasons she was named to the First-Team All Conference USA after her second season. In 2020 Tillett transferred to the University of Tennessee and immediately made an impact for the Vols. Over two seasons Tillett played in 36 matches and scored three goals and assisted six. Most notably, she scored the final goal in the SEC Championship match against the University of Arkansas securing a 3-0 win to secure the title.

Tillett is prepared for this new challenge and role within the Red Wolves organization, “I am beyond excited to get started with the Chattanooga Red Wolves Academy. Finding people and a program you can put your full trust and energy into and receive the same passion and love back is an incredible feeling. I am looking forward to the next steps.”

Academy Sporting Director Luke Winter spoke about the importance of adding Tillett, “the addition of Hannah brings in another great person and passionate employee to our organization. Hannah wants to help continue the growth of soccer in our community and provide more opportunities for all players. It's also really exciting for me when you have a female on staff who knows the game at the highest level - its where lots of our academy membership wants to reach and Hannah can be a role model and give the guidance by sharing her personal stories and what she had to sacrifice to get there
 
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I'm late reacting, but am quite impressed and excited by both the Edwards and Soto hires. Edwards has a very strong background as a player and as a young coach and should be a serious asset to the program. It's a strong opening moving by Kirt--and he was definitely wise to hire two women to fill the openings and, in doing so, add a bit of gender balance to the program. Thumbs up.
 
Injuries/absences:
Angel City:

  • Sarah Gorden (knee) — OUT
  • Christen Press (ACL) — OUT
  • M.A. Vignola (hip) — OUT
  • Jasmyne Spencer (knee) — OUT
M.A. Vignola still out 😟

No word on Katie Cousins who still hasn’t seen any game time as of yet. 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
Injuries/absences:
Angel City:

  • Sarah Gorden (knee) — OUT
  • Christen Press (ACL) — OUT
  • M.A. Vignola (hip) — OUT
  • Jasmyne Spencer (knee) — OUT
M.A. Vignola still out 😟

No word on Katie Cousins who still hasn’t seen any game time as of yet. 🤷🏻‍♂️


Damn: It's turned into a lost year for Vignola. Terribly unfortunate. As for Cousins, it would certainly be nice to see her play even a little, if only to get a sense of how she compares to other NWSL midfielders. The only thing that I think could be an issue with Cousins is her pace and ability to get up and down the field efficiently. She is quite short, with short legs, and so she simply doesn't run as well or as fast as many others. It wasn't much of an issue for her as a defensive mid in college that I noticed, but might be more of a disadvantage at this level. Hard to know when we haven't seen her in action.
 
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Jenna Chatterton
#13 | Defender
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Jenna Chatterton | #13  
Position: DF
Height: 5’ 2” 
DOB:06/18/2003
Hometown: Noblesville, Ind.

Acquired: Signing announced on 04/25/22
Club: Indiana Fire Juniors (Westfield, Ind.)
College: University of Tennessee

Before playing for the University of Tennessee, Chatterton represented her hometown Noblesville HS and suited up for Indiana Fire Juniors in ECNL play, helping the squad to an NPL Finals championship in a 3-1 victory over VYS Phoenix in 2017.
During her high school career, Chatterton helped lead the Noblesville Millers to back-to-back undefeated seasons and IHSAA Class 3A State Championships in 2019 and 2020. Alongside her teams’ success, Chatterton’s individual accolades included being named the USA Today/IndyStar Women’s Soccer Player of the Year for 2019/20, the 2020 Indiana Girls Player of the Year by the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association CA and a High School All-American nod by the United Soccer Coaches in 2019.
During her first year in college in 2021, she appeared in 8 games logging 123 minutes for the season.
 
Tennessee's 2022 schedule has not been released, but some games are on the books. This is what we've got so far:

DATE OPPONENT 2021 Record 2021 RPI

8/13 Dayton (EX) 12-6-1 132

8/21 SMU 12-5-2 23

8/25 Duke 16-4-1 2

8/31 Bowling Green 11-7-3 66

9/18 Kennesaw St. 9-8-2 138

9/16 at Florida 4-12-4 123

10/14 LSU 11-8-1 49


As noted, our first regular-season game, after an exhibition against Dayton, appears to be against an SMU team that was good last year. Pensky, before leaving, mentioned that we were playing both UNC and Duke this season. The Duke game is on; not sure about UNC yet. It could be on--we should have at least one if not two additional out-of-conference games--but hasn't been listed. We shall see.

Our first SEC matchup seems to be against Florida--or it might be our second. Not quite sure. Of the games listed, all but the Florida game are at home. Getting a result against Duke (either a tie or a win) would be huge for our RPI but it's obviously going to be a tough match--Duke is good/very good every year.

Some games are actually scheduled for August 8, if you can believe it. That is early!

FYI, Pensky's first regular-season game as FSU coach appears to be against South Carolina--his/our old SEC rival. You can bet that SC coach Shelley Smith, who is very competitive and a bit of a bad sport, IMO, will be dying to knock off FSU in Pensky's first regular-season contest. He will not want to lose that game, but SC is always tough to be beat with their good defense.
 
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Tennessee's 2022 schedule has not been released, but some games are on the books. This is what we've got so far:

DATE OPPONENT 2021 Record 2021 RPI

8/13 Dayton (EX) 12-6-1 132

8/21 SMU 12-5-2 23

8/25 Duke 16-4-1 2

8/31 Bowling Green 11-7-3 66

9/18 Kennesaw St. 9-8-2 138

9/16 at Florida 4-12-4 123

10/14 LSU 11-8-1 49


As noted, our first regular-season game, after an exhibition against Dayton, appears to be against an SMU team that was good last year. Pensky, before leaving, mentioned that we were playing both UNC and Duke this season. The Duke game is on; not sure about UNC yet. It could be on--we should have at least one if not two additional out-of-conference games--but hasn't been listed. We shall see.

Our first SEC matchup seems to be against Florida--or it might be our second. Not quite sure. Of the games listed, all but the Florida game are at home. Getting a result against Duke (either a tie or a win) would be huge for our RPI but it's obviously going to be a tough match--Duke is good/very good every year.

Some games are actually scheduled for August 8, if you can believe it. That is early!

FYI, Pensky's first regular-season game as FSU coach appears to be against South Carolina--his/our old SEC rival. You can bet that SC coach Shelley Smith, who is very competitive and a bit of a bad sport, IMO, will be dying to knock off FSU in Pensky's first regular-season contest. He will not want to lose that game, but SC is always tough to be beat with their good defense.
This was posted back in April

NEWS: Tennessee soccer will open the fall against 21-time national champs UNC 8/18. Home opener will be against 3-time NCAA finalists Duke on 8/25.
 
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Tennessee's 2022 schedule has not been released, but some games are on the books. This is what we've got so far:

DATE OPPONENT 2021 Record 2021 RPI

8/13 Dayton (EX) 12-6-1 132

8/21 SMU 12-5-2 23

8/25 Duke 16-4-1 2

8/31 Bowling Green 11-7-3 66

9/18 Kennesaw St. 9-8-2 138

9/16 at Florida 4-12-4 123

10/14 LSU 11-8-1 49


As noted, our first regular-season game, after an exhibition against Dayton, appears to be against an SMU team that was good last year. Pensky, before leaving, mentioned that we were playing both UNC and Duke this season. The Duke game is on; not sure about UNC yet. It could be on--we should have at least one if not two additional out-of-conference games--but hasn't been listed. We shall see.

Our first SEC matchup seems to be against Florida--or it might be our second. Not quite sure. Of the games listed, all but the Florida game are at home. Getting a result against Duke (either a tie or a win) would be huge for our RPI but it's obviously going to be a tough match--Duke is good/very good every year.

Some games are actually scheduled for August 8, if you can believe it. That is early!

FYI, Pensky's first regular-season game as FSU coach appears to be against South Carolina--his/our old SEC rival. You can bet that SC coach Shelley Smith, who is very competitive and a bit of a bad sport, IMO, will be dying to knock off FSU in Pensky's first regular-season contest. He will not want to lose that game, but SC is always tough to be beat with their good defense.
I saw USC released their schedule and Tennessee doesn’t play them. I thought they played everyone in the East?
 
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North Carolina has released its schedule--and yep, we're on for Aug. 18, the Heels' first regular-season game (after two exhibitions). This game and the Duke contest will be serious tests and give us an indication of how we square up against 2 top-five national programs. UNC humiliated us a couple of years ago, beating us 7-0, as I recall. That defeat and a bad loss to Cincinnati (either the week before or after) knocked us out of the NCAA tourney that year. Like us, Arkansas played Duke and UNC back to back last year; the hogs lost both games but were very competitive in each.
 
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