LADY VOLS ARE NOW THE #2 TEAM IN THE COUNTRY-THE OFFICIAL TENNESSEE ⚽️ THREAD

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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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MATCH CENTRAL: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M​


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Tennessee will play its final home match of the regular season on Sunday, hosting Texas A&M in a 2 p.m. ET contest that will be broadcast on ESPNU.

Sunday is Senior Day on Rocky Top, and 11 Lady Vol seniors will be recognized prior to the match.

In the Lady Vols' last outing, a pair of goals by graduate Sizzy Lawton led UT 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.

Texas A&M (7-6-3, 3-3-2 SEC) is looking to bounce back after a 1-0 loss to No. 17 South Carolina at home on Thursday.

Admission is free for all preseason and regular-season soccer matches. For fans planning to attend, note that Tennessee's clear bag policy will be in effect.

GAME PROMOTIONS:

  • Senior Night (ceremony starts at 1:41 PM)
  • Pups at the Pitch! (Dogs will be allowed inside Regal Stadium)
  • Tennessee dog collars for the first 100 pups
  • Halftime Corgi and Weiner dog races (sign up:Wiener Dog & Corgi Halftime Race 2023)
  • Food trucks: Uncle Mike's and Irvey's Ice Cream
LAST TIME WE MET: No. 15 Tennessee picked up its third-straight SEC win and improved its overall record to 10-1-0, defeating No. RV Texas A&M at Ellis Field, 3-1. The Texas native, redshirt-sophomore Jaida Thomas, tallied two goals on the night, including the game-winner. Senior Mackenzie George rounded out the scoring, notching her second goal of the season. In goal, junior Lindsay Romig recorded five saves. Carissa Boeckmann was the goal scorer for Texas A&M.

VS THE AGGIES: Tennessee owns an all-time record of 7-2-0 against TAMU. When playing in Regal Stadium, the Lady Vols are 7-2-0.

SCOUTING TEXAS A&M: The Aggies were picked to finish fifth in the SEC as voted on by the league's coaches. Texas A&M returned 10 starters and 17 letterwinners from the 2022 squad that went 7-6-3 overall and 3-3-2 in SEC play. Senior Jazmine Wilkinson leads A&M with six goals on the season.



SIZZY SIZZLING: Graduate Sizzy Lawton 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 percentage of .250 and a shot-on-goal percentage of .750. On the season, UT was averaging a shot percentage of .114 and a shot-on-goal percentage of .441.

SECOND HALF TEAM: The Lady Vols have netted nine goals over the last six contests, seven of which have come in the second half. On the season, 18 of Tennessee's 30 goals have been scored in the second half, with nine of those coming in the final 20 minutes of the match.

EVERYONE IS DANGEROUS: UT's 30 goals thus far have been scored by 12 different players. Freshmen Sarah Greiner, Kate Runyon (4) and Keaton Mitchell, sophomores Kameron Simmonds (6) and Macaira Midgley, juniors Jordan Fusco (3) and Nolyn Bartholomew, redshirt-seniors Maria Nelson (2) and Jaida Thomas, senior Lawson Renie and graduates Sizzy Lawton (6) and Nayeli Diaz have all found the back of the net for the Big Orange. Own goals by ETSU and MSU round out the total.

IN THEIR OFFENSIVE THIRD: On the season, UT has nearly doubled the shot count of its opponents, outshooting teams 248-130, and taking 118 corner kicks while limiting the opposition to just 42. Tennessee currently ranks fifth in Division I in corner kicks per game (7.80) and 33rd in shots per game (17.00).

FRESHMEN CONTRIBUTING: All four of UT's active freshmen have recorded at least one goal or assist on the season. Forward Kate Runyon has made eight starts, logging three goals and an assist. Fellow rookies Keaton Mitchell and Sarah Greiner have both tallied goals, and Linette Hofmann has started 11 contests, recording an assist in the season opener against Cal.

THOMAS IN THE RECORD BOOK: Before suffering a season-ending injury, redshirt-senior Jaida Thomas moved her career total to 39 goals to trail UT's leading career scorer, Kylie Rossi, by just four goals. Thomas amassed her 39 goals in just 59 games for a goals-per-game average of .66 to rank third all-time at Tennessee behind only Bunny Shaw (0.77) and Allison Campbell (0.70).

NEW FACES: Tennessee added 10 newcomers in its 2023 signing class. All 10 are versatile field players with six enrolling as freshmen and four arriving as transfers with multiple years of collegiate experience.

BACK AGAIN: The Lady Vols return five starters and 20 letterwinners from the 2022 team that clinched an SEC East Division title for the third straight season.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Redshirt senior Jaida Thomas, senior Lawson Renie, juniors Sheridan Michel and Jordan Fusco, and sophomore Kameron Simmonds were all named to the SEC Preseason Watch List.

UP NEXT: Tennessee will hit the road for its final game of the regular season at Vanderbilt on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.
 
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Tennessee posted some photos of the Seniors on the team and were asking people to guess the player.

I picked a few a few of them out.



Take your best guess.

1



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2
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3

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4

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5

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I'll be interested to see Kirt's lineup today--especially if Runyon is available, as I hope she is. And Hofmann, too. IF Runyon can play, who is Kirt starting at left forward and center forward? When Simmonds has been healthy, which is most of the year, she has started--despite her complete lack of goal-producing play and despite the fact that Lawton has been much more effective. Would he possibly, could he possibly, start Simmonds again and not Lawton? If he does, AD White should organize an intervention or worse.

If he does the right thing and starts Lawton, and Runyon is available, who then is starting at center forward--Runyon or Simmonds? Again, who's been the more effective? Answer: Runyon. It's a dilemma because Simmonds was supposed to be one of our best players--certainly still has the potential to be, I think (though who can be as confident about that as they were at the start of the season?)---and she is influential in terms of back-to-goal hold-up play and possession and pressing. I don't mean to suggest that she's completely poor--not at all. But as a forward you have to be either helping to create goals or scoring goals --or at the least to help create shots and scoring chances: That's what forwards do. And Simmonds just hasn't produced much despite, let me emphasize, a lot of hard work. The team certainly needs her to be more productive. The right and best thing to do, and in a sense it's a tough thing to do, is start Lawton on the left and Runyon in the middle, and bring Simmonds in to relieve Runyon. But I don't think Kirt has the cajones to do that, frankly. He's too loyal (unwisely so, in some cases) to players who've been with the program the longest, and, more understandable, he doesn't want to deal with a disgruntled Simmonds. And I get that. The alternative then would be to start Simmonds at CF and bring Runyon in to relieve her. When to do that would depend on the flow of the game and how Simmonds is playing--but I wouldn't wait too long.

The other thing to watch is who starts at defensive mid. Starting Agresti should be a no brainer--except that Kirt started Washington against Missouri. In that game Washington played 48 minutes and Agresti 42--including, a wise move by the coaches, the last 20/25 minutes when we were desperately protecting a lead. We are not going to beat good teams with the two splitting time like that---we're not (Missouri is not a good team (1 SEC win)--and it's shocking that Kirt doesn't realize this. These next two games are crucial if the Vols want to salvage the season--and they're both going to be tough. They're all tough--that's why you have to play your best players the most.
 
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turbovol said:
I'll be interested to see Kirt's lineup today--especially if Runyon is available, as I hope she is. And Hofmann, too. IF Runyon can play, who is Kirt starting at left forward and center forward? When Simmonds has been healthy, which is most of the year, she has started--despite her complete lack of goal-producing play and despite the fact that Lawton has been much more effective. Would he possibly, could he possibly, start Simmonds again and not Lawton? If he does, AD White should organize an intervention or worse.

If he does the right thing and starts Lawton, and Runyon is available, who then is starting at center forward--Runyon or Simmonds? Again, who's been the more effective? Answer: Runyon. It's a dilemma because Simmonds was supposed to be one of our best players--certainly still has the potential to be, I think (though who can be as confident about that as they were at the start of the season?)---and she is influential in terms of back-to-goal hold-up play and possession and pressing. I don't mean to suggest that she's completely poor--not at all. But as a forward you have to be either helping to create goals or scoring goals --or at the least to help create shots and scoring chances: That's what forwards do. And Simmonds just hasn't produced much despite, let me emphasize, a lot of hard work. The team certainly needs her to be more productive. The right and best thing to do, and in a sense it's a tough thing to do, is start Lawton on the left and Runyon in the middle, and bring Simmonds in to relieve Runyon. But I don't think Kirt has the cajones to do that, frankly. He's too loyal (unwisely so, in some cases) to players who've been with the program the longest, and, more understandable, he doesn't want to deal with a disgruntled Simmonds. And I get that. The alternative then would be to start Simmonds at CF and bring Runyon in to relieve her. When to do that would depend on the flow of the game and how Simmonds is playing--but I wouldn't wait too long.

The other thing to watch is who starts at defensive mid. Starting Agresti should be a no brainer--except that Kirt started Washington against Missouri. In that game Washington played 48 minutes and Agresti 42--including, a wise move by the coaches, the last 20/25 minutes when we were desperately protecting a lead. We are not going to beat good teams with the two splitting time like that---we're not (Missouri is not a good team (1 SEC win)--and it's shocking that Kirt doesn't realize this. These next two games are crucial if the Vols want to salvage the season--and they're both going to be tough. They're all tough--that's why you have to play your best players the most.
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Looking at the leg brace on Runyon I posted above at the NIL Boost Her Club event on Saturday doesn’t look promising that she is fit to play today.
 
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