For the Tennessee women’s soccer team, there are two important games this weekend – its own matchup against No. 7 West Virginia Sunday at 2 p.m. and Team Canada’s World Cup contest with Japan Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Lady Vol eyes will be watching when the Canadians and Japanese meet in the round of 16.
With a win, Canada would advance to the quarterfinals. With a loss, the team would be done – and Lady Vol forward Rhian Wilkinson would return to her Tennessee team.
Without Wilkinson’s formidable offensive presence, Tennessee has struggled to find the back of the net. With the senior on the field Sept. 6, the Lady Vols seemingly re-found their offense, knocking in five goals in a 5-2 win over UNLV.
Since then, Tennessee has scored a total of six goals in four contests. In their last outing, the Lady Vols managed only one goal – a score from freshman forward Kristen Doukakis – in a 3-1 loss to Maryland Saturday.
Coach Angela Kelly said the lack of goals is a problem solved by simply capitalizing on what the team is given.
“I don’t think it’s a problem that our offense can’t solve,” she said. “I think we just need to take better care of our opportunities, because we are getting ample opportunity to score.
“We need to have better focus in the attacking third of the field.”
The Tennessee offense has been fortified by the performance of junior All-American defender Keeley Dowling. Aside from garnering defensive MVP honors at both the First Tennessee Lady Vol Classic and the Maryland/adidas Classic, Dowling has also provided Tennessee with a source of offense.
Dowling scored both her team’s goals in last Thursday’s 2-1 victory over William & Mary, including the team’s golden goal in overtime. The goals marked Dowling’s fourth and fifth of the season.
“Keeley has really done well for us so far this season,” Kelly said. “After not playing in the spring, she is still trying to find a comfort level. But she has been a really strong defender for us and she’s also provided us with some offensive power as well.”
West Virginia (8-1) comes into Knoxville in the midst of an eight-game winning streak.
The Mountaineers haven’t lost since a 1-0 defeat to Virginia in their season opener, and the winning stretch includes a victory over then-No.7 UConn last Friday.
The team’s standouts are senior forward Chrissie Abbott and senior midfielder Lisa Stoia, both All-Americans last season.
Abbott has been named Big East Offensive Player of the Week in each of the last two weeks, and with her seventh goal of the season became West Virginia’s all-time leading scorer.
“West Virginia is really on a roll right now,” Kelly said. “They are playing as well as any team in the country. As a team, they are organized and methodical, which will present a challenge to us.
“This game is definitely going to be a battle.”
