When Tennessee took to the field in its Aug. 30 opener against UC-Santa Barbara, the contest marked the first time in head coach Angela Kelly’s tenure at Tennessee a youthful goalkeeper tended the net as a regular season starter.
Since Kelly took over in the Spring of 2000, upperclassmen Ellen Dean and Cori Stevens had minded the goal for the Lady Vols. Following their graduations after last season, sophomore goalkeeper Vanessa Phillips-Bosshart stepped in as this year’s starter.
Despite having only one game of collegiate experience, Phillips-Bosshart has been an asset for a Tennessee team that leads the SEC with a 5-1 record (11-4 overall).
The Connecticut native hasn’t allowed a goal in over 186 minutes of play, has already set a Lady Vol single-season record with seven shutouts, has a save percentage of .842 and sports a meager 0.50 goals against average in conference play.
Phillips-Bosshart’s path to choosing UT was simple she chose the unknown over the safe.
Two of my top choices were Tennessee and Connecticut, but I visited Tennessee very early and loved it, she said. I also wanted a challenge of being away from home, not being able to go home whenever I got homesick.
After making the move from Vernon, Conn., Phillips-Bosshart noticed an immediate change.
The weather is the biggest difference between here and home, I think, Phillips-Bosshart said. There really aren’t any seasons down here. All of a sudden it gets cold and the leaves start falling off trees and then before you know, it’s winter.
The people down here are much friendlier than back home, too. And football is bigger than I could ever have imagined down here.
As a freshman, the only encounter Phillips-Bosshart experienced on the field was a 25-minute performance in a 9-0 rout of Arkansas State. Now, she looks back on last season as a series of lessons.
I see now that it was invaluable, she said. I had a whole year to mature, to get more comfortable with my teammates, to learn from watching Ellen and to train with Ellen and Cori and then individually with (assistant coach) Scott (Blount) in the spring.
By the time she headed for the goal in Tennessee’s opener, she was ready. Having tended net in the Lady Vols’ spring and fall exhibition games, most of the jitters had faded.
I got the nerves out in the exhibition game, Phillips-Bosshart said. It made me excited and proud because I had finally reached one of the biggest goals of my life.
Maybe the realization hasn’t really set in yet, but I am enjoying every moment.
Her on-field development has followed that of her team, which is enjoying a four-game winning streak heading into this weekend’s trip to Vanderbilt (6-6-2, 2-4-1) and Kentucky (6-6-3, 4-1-2). The Lady Vols recovered after a stretch that saw them lose three of four games heading into their defeat of then-No. 5 Florida on Oct. 10.
We have improved dramatically, and I think we will only continue to get better, Phillips-Bosshart said. I think the season was a bit of a struggle up until the Florida game, then beating Florida gave us the confidence we needed and I think that confidence can carry us far into postseason play.
I am still learning to be a leader in the back, and that will only improve with experience.
Her role in the team’s road shutouts of Arkansas and LSU last weekend garnered her the SEC Defensive Player of the Week honor.
But despite the recognition, Phillips-Bosshart hands the credit to her teammates.
I’m not too interested in those awards and stuff, Phillips-Bosshart said. It just means I am doing my job back there. It is kind of ironic that I got that recognition after this weekend because I think it was one of the quietest weekends I have had so far in the net.
My defenders, and everyone, for that matter, play well on the defensive end, so that makes my job really easy.
