No. 10 Tennessee soccer went on the road to face the No. 12 Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va. This was a physical match that saw a lot of defense, a few missed opportunities and a 1-1 draw.
It didn’t take long for the Lady Vols to get on the board. Taylor Cheatham got ahead of the Virginia defense on an assist from Shae O’Rourke, to score her second goal of the season, just 4:29 into the first half. Tennessee played great defense and dominated possession early.
The Lady Vols pressed continuously and came close to scoring again around 16 minutes in, but they could not sneak one in on two tries in the same possession as Milee Zych and O’Rourke just missed. The Cavaliers finally got the ball on their end for a decent stretch.
But Tennessee remained stout in its defensive approach. Virginia didn’t record its first shot until 30:19 into the game and finished the first half with just two, none on goal. They came in averaging 12 first-half shots per game.
However, after halftime UVA evened things. Addison Halpern scored 48 seconds into the half. Halpern took a header shot off a perfect 47’ Faith Broering pass that dropped in perfectly.
Virginia did a better job of controlling the ball in the second half for the first 20 minutes or so. The Cavaliers were able to take more shots than they did in the first 45 minutes. After that equalizer, the game remained deadlocked throughout the half.
The Lady Vols came close to breaking the tie a time or two, but Victoria Safradin and great defense from Kathryn Kelly denied them. Then, with 2:33 left in the match, Ines Derrien took an 87’ shot on goal, but Safradin punched it over the top for another save.
Tennessee held the edge in shots 13-11 and shorts on goal 6-3. However, the Lady Vols were called for 14 fouls to Virginia’s five. Both teams played effective defense and each goalkeeper made plays with the help of the back end. The Lady Vols return to action on Sunday at home. They will host the Northwestern Wildcats at 2 p.m.
