The back of the net has become an increasingly hard thing to find for the UT soccer team.
The defending SEC champion Lady Vols suffered a shutout in their 1-0 loss to No. 23 Ole Miss Sunday at the Tennessee Soccer Complex. With the loss, Tennessee drops to 7-4 on the season (1-1 SEC), while Mississippi improves to 10-2 (1-1).
Coming off a 2-0 victory over Mississippi State in Friday night’s SEC opener, Tennessee’s match against the Lady Rebels was a defensive battle from early on.
Junior forward Lyndsey Patterson had an opportunity to score just six minutes into the contest with the Ole Miss goalkeeper down after defending another shot. Patterson, who scored in a well-executed breakaway in Friday’s win, got off a shot that sailed wide left.
A flying jump out of the goal by sophomore goalkeeper Vanessa Phillips-Bosshart saved a potential Lady Rebel score at the 31:40 mark. Phillips-Bosshart leapt up to grab the long-distance shot and kept the game scoreless.
Junior defender Keeley Dowling was knocked down 28 minutes before halftime, but received no call from the referee crew. The crew decided a similar call in the Rebels’ favor, allowing Ole Miss a penalty kick a minute-and-a-half before halftime. The kick from senior midfielder Amy Sample sailed high over the goal, though, and the scoreless contest was preserved.
The defensive showdown continued after the break. With 26 minutes left in the game, Phillips-Bosshart garnered another save on a Rebel shot from the right side.
Minutes later, at the 20:44 mark, Tennessee missed a prime opportunity to score, misfiring on a penalty kick from just outside the left side of the box.
Then with less than 17 minutes remaining, Ole Miss outmaneuvered the Tennessee defense and knocked in the lone goal of the game. Sample faked Phillips-Bosshart with a potential shot from the left side and angled the ball over to freshman midfielder Ashley Ferree. Ferree knocked in the assist from the right side of the goal to give Ole Miss the 1-0 final margin.
Tennessee had one final shot at evening the contest at the 4:24 mark. Freshman forward Kristen Doukakis had a breakaway shot in a one-on-one situation with Ole Miss goalkeeper Brittany Gillespie, but missed on the opportunity.
On the day, Tennessee outshot the Rebels, 15-10, but were unable to find the back of the net against Gillespie, who recorded 10 saves.
The loss left head coach Angela Kelly looking towards next weekend and hoping for continued improvement in SEC play.
“I’m definitely not displeased with the effort,” Kelly said. “This team gave the effort today. We were not able to capitalize on our opportunities, while Ole Miss was able to do so.”
While Kelly noted freshman midfielder Ali Christoph had “the game of her life,” she said she was concerned about her team’s offense.
“I think we need to get hungry in the attacking third of the field and take advantage of our opportunities, which Mississippi did today,” Christoph said.
The loss to Ole Miss represents what Kelly sees as a more even playing field in SEC competition this season.
“There is an enormous amount of parity in the SEC this season,” Kelly said. “We have an immense amount of respect for our opponents. But Tennessee is not giving up at any point along the way.
“We look forward to seeing how far we can improve.”
