The Tennessee women’s soccer team has lost overtime heartbreakers to Wisconsin, Alabama and Arkansas, surrendered a lead on the road against then-No. 2 Virginia and been shut out by in-state rival Vanderbilt throughout the course of the 2014 season.
While the Lady Vols have certainly faced their share of difficulties for this season, they have the opportunity to finish the season on a high note and make those aforementioned heartbreaking losses less painful when they travel to Gainesville to face the No. 8 Florida Gators on Friday night.
The Lady Vols, however, have not had much success recently against the Florida soccer program, having lost 2-1 to the Gators in 2012 and then being thumped 3-0 last year on Senior Night.
The 2014 rendition of the Florida soccer team will also present a tough challenge for the Lady Vols soccer team. The Gators sit second in the SEC standings and boast the best shot percentage in the SEC.
But what accounts for their high shot percentage? Head women’s soccer coach Brian Pensky said Florida excels at shot percentage because of possession.
“They are the best possession team in the SEC, and they are the best passing team in the SEC,” Pensky said. “There are two ways to approach Florida: you can either sit back and protect your goal and let them have possession, but really try to put a bit of a wall up; or you can try and keep the ball and disrupt them.”
Pensky said his team is electing to go with the latter strategy for Friday night.
“We are going to try keep it and limit those chances that they have and try to play against them,” Pensky said.
If the Lady Vols hope to pull off the upset in Gainesville this weekend, they must prevent Florida’s best player Savannah Jordan from having a big night.
In their last game, Tennessee allowed Vanderbilt’s star, Simone Charley, to break past the back line to score two goals which would give the Lady Commodores the victory.
The Lady Vols cannot repeat the same mistake with Jordan, who has recorded 11 goals and three assists on the season, if they hope to win.
“You can’t ever lose sight of Savannah,” Pensky said. “Savannah is very savvy in her runs in the box, and getting into good spots to finish chances. She did the same last year in her goal against us. Between our two center backs, we can’t ever lose sight of her, especially on crosses.”
Florida also might be ripe for an upset on Friday. The Gators are in the midst of their first losing streak of the season, having dropped their past two games to South Carolina and Kentucky.
Pensky admitted Florida might be vulnerable at the moment while saying there are two different ways of looking at the Florida losing streak: either Florida is angry and hungry for a win, or that they may begin to question their confidence.
Regardless of Florida’s losing streak, Tennessee senior captain Allie Sirna admitted a win over Florida near the end of her soccer career would be special.
“It would be huge,” Sirna said. “My freshmen year we beat Florida and that was a memory I will always remember, so I think going out as a senior and beating them as well will be a great closure for that rivalry here.”
