University of Tennessee Athletics
Soccer Faces SEC Foes Ole Miss, MSU
October 18, 2007 | Soccer
Updated Match Notes
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ??? The University of Tennessee women???s soccer team returns to the friendly confines of Regal Soccer Stadium this week following a four-match road trip. UT welcomes Ole Miss on Friday night and Mississippi State on Sunday afternoon. The 13th-ranked Lady Vols enter the two-match home stand with a 9-2-2 overall record and a 4-1-1 mark in Southeastern Conference play.
The Orange and White are coming off their second weekend sweep of the league schedule after topping Kentucky, 1-0, in overtime on Oct. 12 and Vanderbilt, 3-1, on Oct. 14. The Lady Vols bounced back from an 0-1-1 weekend Oct. 5-7, to score four goals and hold their opponents scoreless during the run of play.
Freshman midfielder Tanya Emerson scored the first game-winner of her career in a 1-0 overtime win in the 95th minute at UK. UT followed with another victory at Vanderbilt. Senior forward Emily Redberg, junior forward Kylee Rossi and Emerson found the back of the net for the Lady Vols, with Rossi scoring her third game-winner of the season. Emerson sealed the victory for UT after a Vanderbilt penalty kick cut the lead to one goal.
Ole Miss comes to Knoxville following an 0-2 weekend that saw it drop its first matches of the SEC season. The Rebels are 6-5-3 overall and 3-2-1 in league play. UT will be looking for its fourth win in five years against Ole Miss.
The Bulldogs enter the week with a 5-8-1 overall record and a 1-4-1 mark in the SEC. MSU recorded a 0-0 tie with South Carolina before falling to Florida, 5-0, last week. After a 3-2 loss to the Bulldogs last season, the Lady Vols will be seeking redemption this week.
Friday night???s match with Ole Miss is set to begin at 7 p.m. at Regal Soccer Stadium. Sunday???s 2 p.m. meeting with Mississippi State will be televised live on FSN South and SportSouth with Leah Secondo and Jenn Hildreth on the call. Live statistics for both matches are available at UTLadyVols.com.
Rebel Reconnaissance
The Rebels are coming off their first loss of the conference season last week, after falling to Florida and South Carolina at home. Ole Miss is now 6-5-3 overall and 3-2-1 in SEC play following a 3-0-1 start.
Ole Miss is led by the trio of senior midfielder Chrissy Strini, sophomore forward Hannah Weatherly and junior midfielder Jennifer Hance up top. The three have combined to record nearly half of the team???s points and 11 of its 18 goals this season. Strini, who led the Rebels in assists last season, has a team-high four goals and three assists so far.
Junior goalkeeper Megan Vickery leads the defense, playing 1,159 of Mississippi???s 1,339 minutes this season. Vickery has posted a 0.78 goals against average, which ranks fifth in the conference. However, the junior is allowing an average of 1.18 goals per game during SEC play.
Tennessee is 6-3-1 in the all-time series with the Rebels and is unbeaten in the last four meetings. The last time the two squads faced off was Sept. 22, 2006 in Oxford, where they played to a 1-1 tie. Hance scored the Rebels??? only goal before UT midfielder Mick Imgram knotted the score in the 73rd minute.
The match will be the Lady Vols??? first at home since topping Florida, 2-0, on Sept. 30. Tennessee is 4-0-0 at Regal Stadium this season and 19-2-1 at home since 2004.
Mastering Mississippi State
The Bulldogs enter the week 5-8-1 overall and 1-4-1 in SEC play. MSU is coming off a tough 5-0 loss to Florida and a 0-0 tie with South Carolina last week.
Senior forward Treena Ferguson and sophomore forward Katelyn Graben have become leaders for the offense so far this season. Ferguson???s six goals and 15 points lead the team, while Graben has dished out four assists and racked up 10 points. Junior defender Bethany Frazier has also contributed, assisting on a team-high six goals this year.
Sophomore goalkeeper Taryn Holland has played all but 53 minutes in goal for the Bulldogs in 2007. Holland has posted a 1.96 goals against average and made 74 saves, good for second in the conference.
The Lady Vols will be looking for redemption against MSU after falling to the Bulldogs 3-2 in the first week of SEC play last year. The loss was UT???s first against Mississippi State since 2000, and just its second in the all-time series. Ferguson scored two of the Bulldogs three goals, including the game-winner in the 85th minute. Tennessee defender Sarah Jackyra recorded her first career goal and Kylee Rossi provided the Lady Vols??? other goal in the match. The Orange and White are 7-2-0 all-time against MSU.
Mississippi State will face a tough, 17th-ranked Georgia team that is undefeated in conference play at 5-0-1 on Friday night before traveling to Knoxville.
Lady Vol Pollsters
Following the successful weekend on the road, Tennessee climbed up one spot in the latest SoccerTimes.com, National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas and Soccer America rankings this week. The Orange and White also moved up four spots in the latest Soccer Buzz poll. The Lady Vols are now ranked No. 13 in the NSCAA/adidas listing, No. 15 in the SoccerTimes.com poll, No. 11 in Soccer Buzz and No. 19 according to Soccer America.
Rocky Top RPI
The first NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings of the 2007 season were released last week, with Tennessee claiming the No. 5 RPI in NCAA Division I women???s soccer. The RPI is a mathematical formula that takes into account each team???s win-loss record, strength of schedule and opponents??? strength of schedule. That figure is then adjusted based on opponents??? RPI.
The Lady Vols ranked behind Penn State, Stanford, Southern California and Virginia in the adjusted RPI rankings released on Oct. 10. Tennessee has the top RPI in the Southeastern Conference, which has six teams in the top 50. Georgia sits just behind the Lady Vols at No. 6, while LSU and South Carolina join the two teams in the top 25.
The Orange and White have taken on nine teams ranked in the top 100 in RPI in Division I, including No. 1 Penn State, No. 3 Southern Cal, No. 21 Wake Forest and No. 25 South Carolina, compiling a 6-2-1 record against those teams.
2007 SEC Tournament: The Road to Orange Beach
It???s mid-October and that means the 2007 SEC Tournament is just around the corner. With just three weeks remaining in conference play, it is crunch time for teams in the SEC. Only the top eight squads earn a spot in the conference championships and the right to play for the league???s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
This season, the eight teams will head to the Orange Beach Soccer Complex in Orange Beach, Ala. for the fourth time in the last five years. The tournament will begin with the four first-round matches on Wednesday, Nov. 7 and culminate with the SEC Championship match televised live on FOX Sports Net/SUN Sports at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 11.
If the regular season were to end today, Georgia would be the No. 1 seed with its 5-0-1 conference record. At 4-1-0, Auburn would take the No. 2 seed, while the Lady Vols would claim the No. 3 spot in the tournament. However, the top three teams will not meet until the final two weeks of the season.
Tennessee???s road to Orange Beach begins this weekend with Ole Miss, which is currently fifth in the overall standings and held UT to a 1-1 tie in the teams??? last meeting on Sept. 22, 2006. The Lady Vols will face Auburn at home on Oct. 28, looking to avenge a 2-1 double overtime loss to the Tigers last season. Finally, the Orange and White close out the regular season at Georgia, taking on the Bulldogs on Friday, Nov. 2 in a match that could determine the Eastern Division championship.
