KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Thursday night, No. 9 Tennessee soccer returned to Regal Soccer Stadium to host Mississippi State for its Southeastern Conference home opener. Tennessee normally strikes fast, but that was not the case for the Lady Vols. In fact, they never scored at all. Tennessee and Mississippi State played to a scoreless draw.
“Good to be back home in Regal,” Lady Vols head coach Joe Kirt said after. “Good to get a shutout. That was about the best of our performance tonight was those two things.”
For the first time all season, the Lady Vols recorded zero shots through the first 45 minutes of play. Mississippi State took 11 shots in the first half, with just two on goal. The Bulldogs possessed the ball 57 percent of the time in that half. The Lady Vols couldn’t even get into position to force a corner.
After the game, Kirt was direct about the product on the field. He first took responsibility for not having his team prepared. Then he gave the players their share of the blame as well, and it was an evaluation that was noticeable to anyone who watched.
“I think it comes down to making sure our team’s ready to compete from the opening whistle, and we didn’t do that for certainly 45 minutes,” Kirt said. “And [we] tried to work our way and do it a little bit in the second half. So obviously we gotta look at what we’re doing match day minus one. But our players need to do their job. We’ve gotta organize them, but they need to compete and that was not a performance to be proud of. Not like us.”
On the other end, the Lady Vols were at least able to keep things locked at zero. Cayden Norris recorded two saves in the first 45 and finished the night with a shutout and three saves total. The possession breakdown was telling of the first half. Tennessee had 66 percent of its possession in its own half of the field. Mississippi State spent 55 percent of its possession in the attacking half of the field, with 36 percent in close range.
In the second half, Tennessee finally recorded its first shot in the 48th minute on an attempt from Olivia Feagin. A corner kick from Bella Smith followed but came up empty. Tennessee and Mississippi State split second-half possession percentage evenly, but neither team could generate an effective shot. The Bulldogs took only four shots in the second half with no corner kicks.
Thursday night was not the Lady Vols soccer we’ve seen this season. In the 77th minute, Tennessee’s Nyla Blue was given a red card for denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, forcing the Lady Vols to play the final 13 minutes with 10 players. Kylee Simmons got her best opportunity of the night in the 82nd minute, but her shot went straight to Mississippi State goalkeeper Jenny Harrison.
This was a physical match, and calls went both ways. Mississippi State finished with 19 fouls to Tennessee’s 11. Emmerson Moore received a yellow card in the first half, and Mississippi State’s Kara Harris received a yellow card in the final minute of the match.
Now the Lady Vols (6-0-3, 1-0-2) turn to Sunday, when they host No. 3 Vanderbilt at noon ET. It’s not only a top-10 matchup but a rivalry, and the Lady Vols should be ready to show more after Thursday night’s performance.
“Obviously Vandy’s a huge rival for us,” Kirt said. “If you can’t get up for that game, it’s gonna be a long year. Obviously they’re really talented, but to get them at home should inspire us and hopefully come out and do the things that we didn’t do at a high level tonight.”
