Tennessee soccer defeats Kentucky to remain undefeated
Tennessee defeated Kentucky 3-0 on Sunday night to remain undefeated on the season.
Tennessee (9-0-0, 1-0 SEC) began SEC play on Sunday night, defeating Kentucky (5-5-0, 0-1 SEC) 3-0 at Regal Stadium. The ninth straight victory ties the longest win streak in program history and will likely propel the Vols into the Top 25 when the rankings come out next week.
While the final score shows a dominating performance by the Volunteers, the game was much closer. Kentucky controlled the first 15 minutes of the game with good possession, working the ball over the top of the Volunteer defenders for several solid goal-scoring opportunities.
Fortunately enough for the several thousand fans at Regal Stadium, the Tennessee defense stood strong fending off the Wildcats talented strikers until the Volunteers where able counter.
Tennessee struck first in the 17th minute when freshman defender Erin Gilroy was able to beat her defender with a burst of speed before slotting the ball across the front of goal where striker Mary Alice Vigola slid it into the bottom corner.
The Vols struck again shortly after, extending their lead to 2-0 in the 29th minute when a corner kick taken by Meghan Flynn was flown to the back post where junior transfer Khadija (Bunny) Shaw was waiting to head home her first goal of the game. The goal was Shaw’s seventh of the season.
Shaw was able to notch another goal before the final whistle blew, after a ball from Danielle Marcano found Shaw one-on-one with the Wildcat’s keeper in the 88th minute.
Shaw looked poised for her first ever SEC game, finishing around the Wildcat keeper for her eighth of the year, tying her for second in the country in goals scored this season with eight total. The junior out of Jamaica is now just one goal behind top goal scorer Channing Foster of Ole Miss.
Tennessee will look to remain in form as they host Auburn at Regal Stadium on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET before traveling to Columbia to close out the week against No. 3 South Carolina on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
Edited by Ben McKee
Feature image from UT Sports
