Junior Khadija Shaw has been making a name for herself so far this season.
A junior college transfer from Eastern Florida State, she’s worked her way onto the field for head coach Brian Pensky and has performed well five games into the regular season.
Having already recorded two goals leading into Friday night’s match against Belmont, fans were in for an even larger performance once the match was underway. In rainy conditions, Shaw recorded three goals, her first career hat trick, to lead Tennessee to a 3-0 shutout over the Bruins at E.S. Rose Park.
After a slow start for both teams, the Spanish Town, Jamaica native put on a show in the 23rd minute.
Her first goal came off of a pass from junior Josie Jennings, before adding another less than 40 seconds later. Shaw’s third goal would come via a headshot off a corner kick from Riley O’Keefe in the second half.
Once again, the Vols outshot their opponent, more than doubling the Bruins’ attempts (13-6.) Of those shots, eight came at the goal line.
Shaw’s hat trick proved to be Tennessee’s first since Alexis Owens recorded three scores against the Florida Gators in 2011. The junior leads Tennessee in goals scored with five, followed by freshman McKinley Burkett with two.
The Vols now find themselves at 5-0, matching the best start in program history. The loss proved to be Belmont’s (3-1) first on the season.
Tennessee has recorded shutouts in four of their five games, with junior goalkeeper Shae Yanez receiving credit for all of them. She notched just three shutouts last year.
Yanez has 10 saves and a 0.909 save percentage so far this season. She has started in all five of Tennessee’s contests.
Friday’s victory gives Pensky his 55th win of his Tennessee career. Pensky has notched a 55-36-16 total record while at the helm of the Tennessee program, and has a 122-89-36 total career record during his 12 years of coaching, having served as the head coach of the Maryland Terrapins before joining the Vols.
With just two games remaining before returning to Knoxville on Sept. 10, the Vols have a chance to claim the best single-season start in program history.
Tennessee will conclude its weekend road trip with a matchup against Middle Tennessee on Sunday at 5 p.m.12
