Tennessee absorbed early pressure from Georgia but was able to push through in its 2-0 win at Regal Stadium on Thursday night. The No. 3 Lady Vols (10-1-1, 4-1 SEC) picked up a big win, knocking off the No. 17 Bulldogs (7-3-3, 3-1-1), extending their momentum into the final stretch of the regular season.
The Bulldogs controlled possession time throughout the first 20 minutes of the game, forcing Tennessee into turnovers and limiting transition opportunities. Despite the early pressure from the Bulldogs, the Lady Vols were able to stay compact and deny Georgia any clean looks on goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Cayden Norris turned away the only early shot on goal.
“We talked about that throughout the game,” head coach Joe Kirt said. “John (Morgan) mentioned it. The start of the game, it’s going to be tight, they’re going to work, and they’re going to press. The game goes on, it’s going to open up, and that’s what happened.”
The Lady Vols broke the stalemate in the 23rd minute, marking their fourth-fastest goal of the season. Redshirt junior defender Leah Klurman delivered a strike from midfield to the box, where redshirt senior Jenna Stayart outpaced her defender. Stayart had almost no angle, but slipped the ball past the goalkeeper into the net.
“Every time I lock eyes with Leah, I know she can play a ball on a dime,” Stayart said. “Just like she’s done before, I saw her look at me, so I just started running. The ball landed like literally right in front of me, and I just kept running and got it in that.”
The early goal put the Lady Vols in the driver’s seat, rewarding their patience and giving them a new life. Tennessee’s defense continued to stay organized, and they maintained a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
“I don’t think it changed a whole lot,” Kirt said. ”Obviously, it’s always great to go into the half, one to nothing, a little bit against the run of play, but they didn’t have a whole lot of chances. They had possession of the ball, but they didn’t create many chances. We were compact and organized, and then took advantage of getting a goal. It gives us the ability at halftime to continue to do what we’re doing and not have to chase anything. So, definitely a big help, always great to go in with the lead.”
Stayart agreed, “I think it gives us momentum, and it allows us to know we have a foot forward and just to keep that going.”
Tennessee added another goal in the second half and secured a shutout to improve to 6-0 at home this season.
“It’s really difficult to win on the road in this league,” Kirt said. “We protected Regal here in front of our home fans, another great turnout tonight. It’s what you have to do in this league if you’re going to be successful, and credit to our team. We’ve done that. Now we’ve got to go on the road for a couple of games, and go get some points there, too.”