After a tough road trip west to Washington last weekend, the Lady Volunteer soccer team may feel as if it is jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire with a challenging First Tennessee Lady Vol Classic awaiting them this weekend.
Tennessee (1-1-1) plays top-ranked North Carolina in the second game of tonight’s doubleheader at approximately 8 p.m. before taking on unranked Southern California in Sunday’s 3 p.m. finale.
“We are extremely excited to bring such talented teams into Knoxville for the weekend,” UT coach Angela Kelly said. “It will be a challenging tournament.”
UT claimed last season’s Lady Vol Classic with victories over Richmond and Charlotte.
North Carolina (4-0) comes into Knoxville off a 1-0 victory over Kennesaw State.
UNC’s previous game saw the Tar Heels knock off No. 14 Florida, 3-0, in its home opener. That game marked the return of two players, Lindsey Tarpley and Heather O’Reilly, to UNC after they played pivotal roles in winning the gold medal with the United States Olympic Team.
North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance, who enters his 25th season at the helm, believes that the two only strengthen an already strong team. But in the same light, he expects them to be primary targets for other teams.
“They’re going to have that challenge,” Dorrance said. “They’re going to go into every game and every girl who is going to be marking either one of them is going to be salivating for this opportunity.”
In Sunday’s contest, UT takes on Southern California (2-2).
Sophomore midfielder Rose Anna Tantillo leads USC. Tantillo scored two goals in a win over Rutgers and has three goals overall.
Last weekend proved to be a test for Tennessee. Kelly thinks her team gained lessons from a 2-1 loss at Washington and a scoreless tie at Washington State.
“Last weekend, invaluable lessons were learned for our team,” Kelly said. “Our leadership is starting to step up and the entire team is beginning to come together and step up for us.”
Kelly, who played at North Carolina from 1991-94, knows the importance of the contest against the Tar Heels.
“The game against Carolina will be a benchmark for our team,” Kelly said. “It will be exciting for me to see friends and get to spend some time with them.
“They are obviously the top-ranked team in the country. It will be a good challenge – we can see how good we can be.”
