It is said that all sports are games of inches.
The Tennessee Lady Volunteer soccer team learned this lesson the hard way Friday evening against the No. 23 BYU Cougars.
After BYU went on top in the 17th minute thanks to an Elena Medeiros goal, the Lady Vols immediately responded as sophomore forward Anna McClung was given the perfect opportunity to provide the equalizer just two minutes later.
And for the briefest of moments, it looked as if she was going to accomplish that feat.
But then, the ball clanged off the right goalpost, leaving the crowd of around 1,600 inside Regal Stadium groaning.
It would be the closest the Lady Vols would get to knotting the contest up as they dropped their home opener to the Cougars, 1-0.
“I wish that went in,” said McClung on the near miss. “We really needed a goal at that point, we just went down 1-0. But we had chances after that and it is unlucky that we didn’t finish.”
The Lady Vols (1-2-0) played their home opener in front of a raucous crowd, with an estimated 600 students arriving for the game.
All throughout the game, the students started classic soccer chants such as “I believe that we will win” and classic Tennessee chants such as “It’s great to be a Tennessee Vol.”
“I thought it was amazing,” senior forward Hannah Wilkinson said. “It was so good to hear. So many voices out there, hearing the drum out there and all the chants, it was awesome. I loved it.”
The students’ enthusiasm, however, did not prevent the Lady Vols from getting off to a sloppy start. In the first 10 minutes of the game, Tennessee struggled to keep possession and continually turned the ball over to BYU (1-1-2).
“Maybe it was a little nerves, adjustment to the speed of it, first home game in front of our home crowd,” head coach Brian Pensky said. “But again, I think it is also just being used to their pressure. That is the fastest game we played since last fall against the most athletic team we played against last fall.
“While we try to mimic that in training, it is sometimes hard to do. I think the first five to ten minutes took us a little while to settle down in the urgency and the transition.”
Once Tennessee fell behind midway through the first half, the Lady Vols almost immediately reduced their turnovers and became more efficient in their attack.
“I thought that (the team’s response) was pretty good,” Pensky said. “That is always the ultimate measurement: our backs are against the wall. You can either hang your head, or you can bear down and fight and compete. I am very proud of our team’s response. We got angry. We felt like we were wronged.”
Tennessee’s back line also did everything in their power to ensure the game never got out of hand. With the exception of one poor defensive play that led to the game’s lone goal, Tennessee’s back line continually stifled opposing attacks. Defender Gabby Santorio made several impacts to the back line, clearing multiple balls that lingered dangerously close to the goals.
Despite falling to under 0.500, the Lady Vols will has a chance to rebound next Friday when they play Western Kentucky.
“We can’t let this get us down, and keep us down,” Pensky said. “We need to feel good about ourselves and who we are as a team.”
