Reese Mattern found herself in an unfamiliar spot on Friday night, but it didn’t stop her from delivering for the Lady Vols. The sophomore forward, usually attacking from the right, broke towards the goal on the left side and connected on her lone shot of the night.
Freshman defender Milee Zych began the sequence for Tennessee. She dished the ball to redshirt senior midfielder Mac Midgley, who slipped a pass between two defenders. Mattern collected the ball at the top of the box and fired a shot past the goalkeeper into the far-side netting.
The strike would prove to be crucial, as the Lady Vols (9-1-1, 3-1 SEC) defeated Texas A&M (3-5-3, 0-4) 1-0 at Regal Stadium.
“Usually, I play on the right side,” Mattern said. “Then Joe (Kirt) and John (Morgan) were like, ‘We’re going to put you on the left so you can cut in with your right.’ That’s basically what happened. I was just tucked in, and Mac found me the ball.”
While the switch may seem abrupt, head coach Joe Kirt said that this move has been in the works for a while.
“It’s something we’ve been talking about,” head coach Joe Kirt said. “Mike’s (Lyons) been talking about that a little bit. She played central last year, so it gets her on a strong foot and gets her coming inside. There was always cover in the wide areas, so when you go down the line, you’re straight into cover. So that allowed her to come inside and get on her dominant foot, and she did a great job of that, and cut it on target. It’s something we’ve been talking about but haven’t done it.”
Even though this move had been planned, Mattern was still surprised by the change.
“I’m right-footed,” she said. “That helps a lot coming in rather than going out wide, but that wasn’t planned.”
After Mattern’s goal, the Tennessee back line held strong. While the Lady Vols allowed seven shots in the final 19 minutes, they kept the Aggies off the board. Only one of the seven shots was on goal, and it was saved by sophomore goalkeeper Cayden Norris.
“They’re tired. They’ve been playing for 90 minutes, so I think it’s on me to calm them down and keep their heads in it,” Norris said. “They’re running around, they’re doing their job, and I can see everything. I think it’s on me to just keep talking to them and keep them calm.”
The Lady Vols fed off the environment at Regal Stadium, where the crowd energized the team throughout the night.
“The environment’s awesome,” Kirt said. “Anytime you come out under the lights, step out here in front of a crowd like this. It’s why players want to be in Tennessee, and why wouldn’t you want to play in this environment? It’s amazing, it’s fun, it’s exciting. They love it. They feed off it, and we’re so fortunate to have the best fans in the country.”
