University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE RELEASES 2005 LADY VOL SOCCER SCHEDULE
April 22, 2005 | Soccer
April 22, 2005
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - After nabbing the program's second-consecutive Southeastern Conference regular-season title with a conference record 10 wins and advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women's College Cup for the third-straight season, Lady Vol Head Coach Angela Kelly announced her squad's 2005 slate on Friday. Tennessee will face a challenging schedule that includes eight teams that participated in last year's NCAA Tournament and six squads that completed the 2004 campaign ranked among the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas poll: No. 5 North Carolina, No. 7 Virginia, No. 10 Washington, co-No. 19's Auburn and Stanford and No. 21 Florida.
"Our philosophy at Tennessee is always the same year-in and year-out regardless of who is on our roster," said Lady Vol Head Coach Angela Kelly. "We expect to compete for a national championship at UT, so we schedule the way we do in order to continually play the top teams in the nation. Our team has to match up against the best competition out there to properly prepare ourselves for the rugged SEC schedule and the NCAA Tournament."
The Lady Vols will return 11 letterwinners and six starters from a squad that completed the 2004 campaign at 17-5-2 overall and 10-1 in league play on the way to a third-consecutive SEC Eastern Division title, a second-straight SEC regular-season title and an SEC Tournament Final appearance. Kelly and assistant coach Scott Blount will also welcome a large group of talented newcomers to the fold. Despite losing the services of a nationally-lauded senior class that was responsible for numerous championships, scores of national honors and a 63-22-6 overall record, the Orange & White will welcome back four solid performers who received postseason awards. Goalkeeper Vanessa Phillips-Bosshart was selected second-team All-SEC after registering 11 shutouts and a goals-against average of 0.68. She also picked up ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America second-team honors with a 3.81 GPA in exercise science. Midfielder Ali Christoph received a first-team All-SEC selection and All-Central Region honors from both Soccer Buzz (third team) and NSCAA/adidas (second team) after tallying eight assists. Forwards Emily Redberg (seven goals/five assists) and Genna Gorman (seven goals/eight assists) each reaped conference All-Freshman honors while Gorman was chosen as the league's Co-Rookie of the Year and a third-team All-Central Region choice by Soccer Buzz.
Tennessee wastes no time in testing the national waters to open the campaign as the Big Orange will travel to Topeka, Kan., to face 18-time NCAA National Champion North Carolina in the Heartland Classic (Aug. 26). The Lady Vols will then return to the friendly confines of the UT Soccer Complex to open their 10th home slate of competition against Washington State on Sept. 2. The Big Orange registered a scoreless tie with the Cougars in Pullman, Wash., during the 2004 season.
After traveling to Morgantown, W. Va., to battle the West Virginia Mountaineers on Sun., Sept. 4, the Lady Vols will visit Charlottesville, Va., to face homestanding Virginia (Sept. 9) and William & Mary (Sept. 11) in the Nike Virginia Soccer Classic. All three of UT's opponents on the road trip advanced to the second round of the NCAA Women's College Cup in 2004.
The Big Orange will once again welcome a top-notch field into Knoxville for the First Tennessee Lady Vol Classic over Sept. 16-18. Defending Big XII conference champion Texas A&M will battle Washington to open the event on the 16th, with the hosts facing Pac-10 stalwart Stanford in the opening-day nightcap. Two days later, the Cardinal will match up against the Aggies before UT battles the Huskies in a rematch of last year's contest in Seattle, Wash., won by UW 2-1.
Four consecutive home contests highlight the beginning of the conference schedule for the Orange & White. Mississippi State (Sept. 23) and Mississippi (Sept. 25) visit Knoxville before UT renews acquaintances with archrival Florida at the UT Soccer Complex on Sept. 30. The Lady Vols split a pair of 2-1, two-overtime match ups with the Gators in 2004. Tennessee downed the Gators in Gainesville, Fla., to pick up the program's first-ever victory at Pressly Stadium before falling in the SEC Tournament Final in Auburn, Ala. A contest against SEC Eastern Division foe South Carolina closes out the opening homestand for Tennessee on Oct. 2.
The Orange & White venture to Arkansas and LSU to christen the road portion of the league schedule over Oct. 7-9, while SEC Eastern Division foes Vanderbilt and Kentucky are on the docket the following weekend (Oct. 14-16) in Nashville, Tenn., and Lexington, Ky., respectively.
The Lady Vols will have revenge on their minds when they return home to Knoxville for an Oct. 21 match up against Auburn. Last season, UT ventured to face the upstart Tigers in Auburn, Ala., and were upset, 2-1, in front of a raucous partisan AU crowd of 2,117.
After a quick trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to battle Alabama on Oct. 23, the Lady Vols will close-out the regular-season by traveling to Athens, Ga., to face Georgia. UT bested the Bulldogs 2-0 at home last season on "Senior Night" to send seniors Keeley Dowling, Kayla Lockaby, Lyndsey Patterson, Sue Flamini, Kristin McGrath, Ashley Dawes and Mimi Couns out in style.
The 2005 version of the SEC Tournament will be contested over Nov. 3-6 at a site still to be determined. NCAA Tournament first and second round action will occur on Nov. 11 & 13 at campus sites with the NCAA Women's College Cup scheduled for Dec. 2 & 4 at Texas A&M's Aggie Soccer Complex in College Station, Texas. v
