Vols Knock Off No. 20 Gators Thursday Night, 1-0

Thursday, October 24

Knoxville, TN

7:00 PM

University of Tennessee

9-5-2, 3-4-1

Florida

10-6-0, 6-2-0

Florida

Tennessee

Photo by: Kelly Gerdin/Tennessee Athletics

October 24, 2019 | Soccer

Box Score Box Score Video Recap Photo Gallery

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Redshirt senior midfielder Katie Cousins scored the game-winner early in the second half as Tennessee knocked off No. 20 Florida 1-0 Thursday night. The rivalry win marked UT's first victory over a ranked opponent this season and was the third consecutive shutout for the Vols at Regal Soccer Stadium.

"Going into this final stretch, we were staring down the barrel," head coach Brian Pensky said following the match. "Three of our last four games against the top-3 teams in the league, and so far, the first two we have four points out of six which is pretty good. It all starts with our seniors and their leadership."

Cousins broke through with her first goal of the season to put the Vols (9-5-2, 3-4-1 SEC) ahead 1-0 in the 51st minute of action. The score was assisted by senior forward MA Vignola as Cousins connected on a cross into the far right corner of the net.

"Our coaches told us all week, when MA gets on the ball, and Mackenzie George gets the ball, to just get your tail in the box," Cousins said. "[MA] did all the hard work, I was just in the right place at the right time. It was pretty awesome."

Rookie goalkeeper Lindsey Romig recorded her third solo shutout of the year, hauling in seven saves to preserve the clean sheet for Tennessee. The Midlothian, Va. native improved her goals-against average and save percentage to 0.48 and .865 respectively, which would both stand as all-time program records for a single season (min. 1,000 minutes).

"After the tough loss at Mizzou, we obviously had to bounce back," Romig said. "We couldn't come off of that and just come into the other SEC games and walk along. We knew we had to get stuff done. We've really worked well together to come together even more with all of the injuries that we have had. The team just worked really well together tonight."

With the win over the league-leading Gators, Tennessee has defeated Florida in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 12 years, when the Vols rattled off three-straight against the Gators from 2005-07. UT picked up a 2-0 victory in Gainesville last season.

Florida (10-6, 6-2 SEC) outshot the Vols 14-7 but were unsuccessful in finding the back of the net Thursday night. The Gators held a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal as well as a 7-6 lead in corner kicks.

Both teams entered the halftime break without a score, as shots were even at four apiece. Tennessee fired two shots on goal compared to one for the Gators, while the Vols also kept a 4-2 edge in corner kicks in the opening frame.

"It's about making plays," Pensky said. "Early in the second half MA [Vignola] played a great ball to Katie, and she had some confidence in front of the goal and obviously some skill in front of the goal to put something away, and we just held on. Lindsey Romig in goal, our whole back line, our whole team defending. We've got a lot of courage, a lot of resilience from our team with the way our season has gone, and the way the start of our SEC play went. We're a good team and our kids believe that."

UP NEXT: Tennessee will travel to Starkville, Miss. this weekend for its final road contest of the regular season at Mississippi State. Kickoff between the Vols and Bulldogs is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET Sunday afternoon.

For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee soccer, follow @Vol_Soccer on Twitter.