After a win on Thursday over Vanderbilt, Tennessee soccer will play Auburn in the first round of the SEC tournament in Pensacola, Florida.
The Lady Vols (8-5-4, 3-4-3 SEC) enter the tournament with two wins in their last three games, while the Tigers (7-6-5, 3-4-3) drew with Georgia on Thursday.
Tennessee head coach Joe Kirt opted to have Ally Zazzara play the full 90 minutes in goal in Thursday’s game against Vanderbilt, deviating from the usual rotation between her and Abby Reisz. She was part of a shutout effort for the Lady Vols.
“That’s what was best for our team,” Kirt said. “Obviously, both of them played really well all year and played a big part in our team’s success.”
Zazzara was named the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Week due to her seven-save outing on Thursday. Because of Zazzara’s performance, Kirt expects to give her the full 90 minutes once again in Sunday’s game.
“She had a great game and played really well,” Kirt said. “There’s nothing right now that would stand out as a reason to change that. For right now, that’s what we’re leaning to, but we haven’t made a final decision.”
Kameron Simmonds showed substantial improvement in Thursday’s game, playing 73 minutes and recording three shots, including the game’s only goal. The goal was the first for Simmonds in SEC play and brings her season total to seven.
Simmonds did a lot for the team outside of scoring that was important in the build up, but scoring goals is most important in her position.
“Getting a goal is massive for her as a forward,” Kirt said. “Any time you can score, it will boost your confidence. She’s been doing a lot of good things that haven’t showed up on the score sheet.”
Kennedy Price was a large part of Tennessee’s performance in its back line. She played the full 90 minutes for the first time in her career on Thursday and helped the Lady Vols earn a shutout.
“Kennedy has been working herself back into the lineup since the spring,” Kirt said. “She’s coming back off injuries this spring and summer and has worked herself back into shape. She’s got a fight in her, and I wanted to give her an opportunity with some of those matchups.”
Auburn is a very strong team defensively. The Tigers have allowed just two goals in their last five games and shut out SEC opponents four times. Auburn is not as strong when it comes to scoring goals, though. It only has 10 goals in conference play.
However, the Lady Vols will need to match Auburn’s performance along the back line. That starts with putting pressure on the ball at all positions, as has been the case for the Lady Vols all season.
“It starts with what we do up front and taking pressure off our back line,” Kirt said. “If our front group can step up and get good pressure on the ball and deny service opportunities and deny teams the ability to build, it takes a lot of pressure off our backs.”
