As the minutes in the Tennessee Lady Volunteers soccer game against Missouri were winding down, the Tennessee seniors Brittney Wade, Cheyenne Spade, Hannah Wilkinson and Allie Sirna walked off the field to a standing ovation from the fans at Regal Soccer Stadium for the last time.
When the game concluded, the seniors sang “Rocky Top” with their teammates and the fans for the last time.
The seniors were celebrating a home victory over a top-25 team for the last time.
Amy Neal, Wilkinson and Christine Creighton all scored one goal apiece in the second half, and the Lady Vols soccer team cruised to a 3-0 victory over the No. 21 Missouri Tigers on Senior Night.
The seniors could not have asked for a better performance from their teammates on Senior Night as Tennessee outshot Missouri 20-12 and earned its first victory over a top 25 team in over a year.
“I think it was probably our most complete performance in terms of getting a shutout, scoring goals against a good team, and keeping the ball at the same time.” Tennessee head coach Brian Pensky said.
“We played a lot of good teams. Unfortunately we haven’t gotten big wins against good teams, today it finally happened.”
After the first half, all signs were pointing to another nail-biter for the Lady Vols. While the Lady Vols assembled a couple of strong attacks to the goal and outshot the Tigers 9 to 5, they failed to kick the ball past Missouri’s goalkeeper in the first half.
However, it didn’t take long for Tennessee to get on the scoreboard in the second.
After receiving a nice pass from Wilkinson in the 49th minute, senior Wade was dribbling the ball down the right side of the field. The moment before she was about to dribble the ball out of bounds, she fired an impressive cross to sophomore forward Neal in the box.
Neal timed the cross perfectly, and her header from five yards out sent the ball flying near the left post into Missouri’s net.
It didn’t take long for Tennessee to score its second goal. Wilkinson showcased her speed in the 56th minute when she received a pass from Aaron Parry and managed to get past a Missouri defender, which drew out the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper was a second late and Wilkinson’s final goal at home gave her team some breathing room against the Tigers.
“It was really cool,” said Wilkinson, who scored her sixth goal of the season. “It was a really good ball through from Aaron and I was just pleased to beat the player that was marking me. She defended really well against me the whole game and I was just happy to be able to get past her. And obviously, scoring on Senior Night, that is what I love to do.”
Creighton’s goal in the 69th minute extinguished any lingering doubt about a Lady Vol victory, and Tennessee goalkeeper Jaime Simmons’ two great saves in the 70th minute preserved the shutout for the Lady Vols.
While the victory may have been a great confidence booster for the Lady Vols, the victory also kept them alive for a berth in the SEC tournament. While they still need help from other SEC schools, they can travel to Oxford, Mississippi, with the opportunity to clinch a spot in the tournament against Ole Miss.
