A sunny day at Regal Stadium proved to be in favor of Tennessee soccer on Sunday afternoon as it walked away with a 9-0 shutout against Eastern Kentucky. It tied the Lady Vols’ largest margin of victory, paired with a 2002 win over Arkansas State, with the same score.
Coming off a win against No. 1 North Carolina just days before, Tennessee kicked into high gear to face the Colonels, proving its strength by starting off secure in the first half with two goals, and finishing even more powerful in the second by adding on seven in the second half.
Stott’s step-up
The Lady Vols proved to be dominant in attacking for this matchup, as evidenced by the 35 shots on goal, compared to the season game-high of 21 last year against Lipscomb.
The most notable performance of the day came from Sophomore Alivia Stott, who came off the bench to score five of the team’s nine goals, with three of those earned within the last 10 minutes of the game. By doing this, Stott tied the school record for most goals in a single game for the first time since 1998, when Allison Campbell did it against UNC Asheville.
After the game, Stott stated that she felt, “on top of the world,” saying that she couldn’t have
done it without her team. The Knoxville native is a graduate of Bearden High School, where her first goal netted in the 65th minute was her first of her career, followed by four more to make it a five-goal outing.
Lady Vols in control
As for the rest of the game, Tennessee proved to be dominant in attacking, finishing with its high number of shots and superiority in possession. The Lady Vols showed control of the game
from the start.
The first goal resulted from a corner kick and was scored by Ally Brown after an assist from Reese Mattern in the eighth minute. Shae O’Rourke then scored in the 10th minute, adding to her season total after her two goals from the previous opener.
With these, the EKU pushed back to pack their end of the field and increased the density on their defense. The Lady Vols came out of the first half with 16 shots and four corners, with Cayden Norris having a simple first 45 minutes.
At the beginning of the second half, Skylar Miller came through with a goal from a header that slid right under the crossbar, with an assist from Jasmine Boggs, to bring the score to 3-0. Kate Runyon brought in the fourth goal at the 63rd minute, with Boggs earning her second assist of the day.
For the fifth goal, Bella Smith pulled out an assist from the left for Stott to score, and the trend continued as Stott returned the following four goals, with one of them being a sharp shot through center goal, sliding right past the goalkeeper.
On the road
The Lady Vols are heading on the road for their next game, which will be at UCLA on Aug. 20.
“It’s about us, and it will remain to be about us at the standard we’re going to play at,” head coach Joe Kirt said.
As Tennessee moves on to face the Bruins on the road, it will need to get better with things like decision-making each time they step on the field, continuing to take chances like they did against the Tar Heels.
