Lady Vols Edge Kentucky, 3-2

Friday, October 10

Knoxville, TN

University of Tennessee

6-7-0, 3-2-0SEC

Kentucky

3-8-2, 1-3-1SEC

Team	1	2	Final F
KENTUCKY	1	1	2
TENNESSEE	1	2	3

October 10, 2008 | Soccer

Box Score

Oct. 10, 2008

Box Score

Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - For the first time this season, the University of Tennessee women's soccer team earned a come-from-behind victory, topping Kentucky, 3-2, at Regal Stadium on Friday night. With goals from seniors Kylee Rossi and Alissa VonderHaar, the Lady Vols won their third straight match, improving to 6-7-0 overall and 3-2-0 in Southeastern Conference play.

"It was very exciting game, a little too exciting for me, but I'm going to take it," UT Head Coach Angela Kelly said. "We are excited about the fact that we were able to battle. This was the first game where we were down a goal and we were able to come back and win it. That builds character within our young team and that excites me too. We could have folded and not fought to come back, but we did."

A free kick taken by senior keeper Jaimel Johnson in the 85th minute led to VonderHaar's game winner. Johnson's kick was won in the air by junior midfielder Mick Imgram before the ball found its way to VonderHaar who slid to the left of her defender and struck the ball from 23 yards. The shot was on target and blew past Kentucky sophomore keeper Sydney Hiance into the upper right corner of the net. The score marked VonderHaar's second of the season and gave the Orange and White the 3-2 lead.

"Coach is always telling me to get forward on free kicks so I was just trying get up," VonderHaar said. "Mick did a great job winning it and it was a great ball by Jaimel. I honestly thought I was going to take another touch, but (Coach Kelly) always talks about taking the half chances. So I just took the half chance and it went in."

The final five minutes of the match were not without excitement, as Kentucky came dangerously close to taking the game into overtime. The Wildcats had two quality chances in the 88th minute, putting back-to-back shots on frame. First, freshman midfielder Jenna Goblirsch lofted a ball into the box that Johnson punched out. The rebound found sophomore forward Giuleana Lopez who rifled what looked like the tying goal towards the open net, but had it blocked on the goal line by sophomore defender Grace Cuenin. The save gave the Lady Vols the edge they needed to hold off the final Kentucky attacks for the win.

"I just looked around and I didn't see Jaimel and I saw that (Lopez) was going to shoot," Cuenin said. "So I just kept moving across the line hoping that she would hit it in my direction and when she did I just deflected it away from the goal. Then I got extremely excited."

For the first time in five matches, the Orange and White found the back of the net in the first half, as Rossi opened the scoring just 10 minutes into the match. Sophomore forward Devon Swaim took a throw in on the far side where the ball was played back to her before she put a cross into the box for Rossi. The senior forward then took the shot, placing the ball in the upper right corner for her ninth goal of the season. The helper was the first of two for Swaim on the night.

Just over five minutes later, the Wildcats drew even as Lopez brought the ball up into the box and went one-on-one with Johnson, beating her and putting the ball into the lower left corner. The goal was Lopez' fourth of the season.

With the match tied at one through 16 minutes, both teams were looking to take the advantage into the break. Following the goals, the Lady Vols took another five shots to tally nine total in the first frame, while Kentucky notched five shots in the half. Despite their best efforts, the two squads entered halftime knotted at one goal apiece.

Though Tennessee forced Hiance to make two saves in the opening five minutes of the second half, it was Kentucky who scored first in the final frame. In the 53rd minute, Goblirsch blasted a rocket off the crossbar which rebounded straight to senior midfielder Nicola Holdsworth on the far side of the box. From there, Holdsworth tucked her shot into the lower right corner to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead.

"I just want to credit Kentucky," Kelly said. "They battled and I don't think that their record is indicative of the team they have. I have a lot of respect for (UK Head Coach) Warren Lipka. Tonight, it could have gone either way."

Just nine minutes later, the Lady Vols proved their resilience by finding the back of the net to tie the match at 2-2. The tandem of Swaim and Rossi hooked up again when Swaim dished a ball to Rossi in the box. With the ball at her feet on the right side, Rossi worked her way around two defenders to the left side of the penalty spot before putting her shot past Hiance to bring the teams to their second tie of the night.

"After we were down a goal, we just had to remember that the first five to 10 minutes after a team scores is its most vulnerable time defensively," Swaim said. "We just knew that we could get it done. Kentucky is a tough team but we battled and played with heart."

The win gives the Orange and White five victories in six matches at home this season, while the five combined goals between the two teams are the most in a match at Regal Stadium since a 3-2 overtime victory for UT over South Carolina on Sept. 27, 2007.

For making her game-saving goal line stop and keeping Kentucky's leading scorer off the board, Cuenin was voted the player of the match by her teammates. Cuenin held sophomore forward Laura Novikoff to just one shot in the match, despite Novikoff's nine-inch advantage over the Midlothian, Va., native. The play of Cuenin and the rest of the backline allowed Johnson to post her 27th career victory, making just two saves in the win.

Offensively, the Lady Vols continued their dynamic play. UT's roster now contains eight players with at least one goal on the year and 10 who have recorded a point. Swaim notched her first two assists of the season in the match to become the squad's second leading scorer with six points on the year. The Levittown, Pa., native has recorded four of her six points in the last two matches, while Rossi posted her seventh straight match with at least one point.

"Coach Kelly challenged me because she knew that I could play at a higher level," Swaim said. "She just told me that if I care about this team and if I'm going to work hard, then I should do it for my teammates. That's what's changed in my game and I can see it in my teammates too."

Tennessee will now look ahead to in-state rival Vanderbilt on Sunday. The Commodores fell, 2-0, at Georgia on Friday night and are now 1-4-0 in SEC play. UT has won two straight against VU, posting a 3-1 victory in Nashville last season. The two squads are set to get underway at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Regal Stadium. A live webcast of the match, along with live statistics, will be available online at utladyvols.com.