No. 21 Tennessee soccer closed out the final game of the season with a 2-0 victory over in-state rivals Vanderbilt and claimed its third consecutive SEC East title.
The Lady Vols had to beat Vanderbilt and hope that No.14 South Carolina would drop points against Missouri to win the league. However, South Carolina saw off the Tigers 2-0 in Columbia, handing them their first SEC East title in over three years. Tennessee and South Carolina both ended on 15 points, so the two teams split the rights to the title.
It was an impressive performance from Lady Vols, who bounced back from Sunday’s defeat and ensured that the seniors were sent off in victorious fashion.
“Our response after losses has been phenomenal all year,” said Tennessee head coach Joe Kirt. “That’s a credit to those guys [for] moving forward and getting back to who we are and really dialing into what makes us great and that’s the work and commitment to defending for one another and finding ways to score and they did that tonight.”
It was an emotional night for seniors Abbey Burdette, Mackenzie George, Lindsey Romig, and Hannah Zaluski, who bid farewell to Regal Soccer Stadium. A pre-match ceremony was held to recognize the contributions of the four seniors. The players were joined on the field by their families and teammates and were embraced by the Tennessee faithful.
With both teams battling for the SEC East title, they came out fighting and there was a high level of intensity on display. The Lady Vols created the better of the chances in the first half with both George and Burdette coming close. Burdette hit the crossbar from range inside the closing 5 minutes of the first half, but ultimately came up short.
Tennessee came out of the halftime sheds knowing that a draw would not help them in their bid to become seven-time SEC East Champions. The deadlock was broken when junior Lawson Renie rose above the crowd and headed home the opening goal from a corner. It was Renie’s third goal of the season and put Tennessee in pole position to win the SEC East.
“We came out of halftime [knowing] we had to score,” Renie said. “We had a lot of great momentum from the first half. It felt really good to score and we just had to win for our seniors.”
Vanderbilt built the tension in Knoxville when they began to press for an equalizer, but Tennessee also pushed for a second, knowing the 1-0 lead would not be enough against the league leaders.
The Lady Vols found their answer in the 66th minute when Burdette was involved once again and was fouled inside the box, giving Tennessee a clear-cut penalty. Taylor Huff stepped up and slotted it home into the bottom left corner to double the Lady Vols’ lead and ultimately killed off any fightback by the Commodores.
“It’s always great to beat Vanderbilt here at Regal, senior night, you can’t ask for much more, Burdette said. “Proud of my team for the effort and playing the way we did today and just really happy overall.”
For a period of time, it looked like Tennessee would ride its luck to another SEC East title. However, two quick-fire goals by South Carolina in their game against Missouri saw the Gamecocks climb into first and hold onto that position.
Kirt’s side will now rest up and reset as they set their sights on defending their SEC tournament title next week in Pensacola, Florida. The Lady Vols had already ensured a first-round bye going into tonight’s match and will go into the tournament ranked third.
“It’s recovering here after this game,” Kirt said. “It’s an emotional day, it’s been a long week for them academically, so we’re making sure we recovered, mentally, physically and emotionally from this and are ready for the postseason. It’s getting our bodies right and making sure we’re ready to go on Tuesday whoever we play.”
Tennessee will face Georgia in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m ET.
KNOXVILLE, TN - No. 3 Abbey Burdette drives the ball towards the goal during the UT Senior Night match against Vanderbilt in Regal Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022.
