When UT head coach Angela Kelly took over the soccer program in the spring of 2000, her focus immediately turned to recruiting the best players for her team.
As she and her staff have moved forward in building the program, that focus has evolved into a search for the best players who fit into the team already here.
Kelly’s philosophy has paid dividends for her team, which picked up its first SEC tournament championship last year. The on and off-the-field chemistry between the players she’s selected has led to ample success for the seven-year-old program.
Junior defender Keeley Dowling is one of those players hand-selected by Kelly. Her efforts in last weekend’s collective shutout of Richmond and Charlotte landed Dowling on the Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week.
Dowling, who came to Tennessee as a highly-regarded midfielder in 2001, has seen firsthand the rewards that team chemistry can give a team.
“Winning the SEC tournament was the most exciting experience that I’ve had since I’ve been at UT,” Dowling said. “And being able to share the experience with my teammates definitely just made it that much better for me.
“That is what is so awesome about team sports – you can share it with so many people, especially ones you care about so much.”
By 2001, once the nucleus of Tennessee’s team was set with Kelly’s second recruiting class, the players she added blended into the soccer family one-by-one.
Dowling said she thinks having a strong bond between teammates off the field only enhances the way they play together on the field.
“Team chemistry on this team just makes us that much better,” Dowling said. “If we’re all willing to run through a brick wall for each other, that will take us so much further than a team where the players just play for themselves.”
Tennessee returns to the field this morning to open up the Maryland/adidas Classic. The Lady Vols take on William & Mary in a 10 a.m. contest in College Park, Md. The game was moved from an afternoon to a morning contest because of the impending arrival of Hurricane Isabel.
The contest will mark the first competition between No. 11 Tennessee (5-1) and William & Mary (3-2-1).
After completing tonight’s action, UT will take on host Maryland Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Vols and Terrapins have never met.
The Terps (3-2-1) are led by sophomore midfielder Kimmy Francis, who tallied two goals and an assist in last weekend’s 3-2 victory over Towson.
As always, Dowling said she thinks Tennessee heads into this weekend’s tournament with a mindset towards playing as a team.
“This weekend, as with any other weekend, I look for us play to our best abilities and continue to pursue the perfect game.
“And I look for us to do that together.”
