No. 10 UT Takes Down Georgia, 3-1

Sunday, October 24

Knoxville, TN

5:00 PM

University of Tennessee

14-2-0, 7-2-0

Georgia

11-4-2, 4-3-2

Georgia

Tennessee

October 24, 2021 | Soccer

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By: Kimberly Hood

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The tenth-ranked Volunteers picked up a crucial 3-1 win on Sunday, keeping their SEC East title hopes alive by defeating a Georgia team that was undefeated in divisional matches.

With the win over UGA, Tennessee is in a position to clinch its second straight SEC East divisional championship on Thursday with a victory over Kentucky.

UT dominated possession for 60 percent of play and held the Bulldogs, who were averaging 21.3 shots per game, to just 11 shots on the day.

Tennessee (14-2-0, 7-2 SEC) got goals from junior Cariel Ellis, senior Mackenzie George and redshirt-sophomore Jaida Thomas. In goal, junior Lindsey Romig made two saves before exiting after a collision with a Georgia forward. Senior Ashley Gabor took over in the 41st minute and closed out the game, making four saves.

Tori Penn found the net for Georgia (11-4-2, 4-3-2 SEC), and Emory Wegener tallied five saves in the contest.

"I'm so proud of our team. Thursday night was tough. The result was tough, and the result against that opponent was tough," said Tennessee head coach Brian Pensky. "We talked a lot about channeling that anger and frustration into tonight. It's always hard to turn around and get ready on a Sunday to compete - especially against a team that is so dangerous like Georgia... a lot of it is physical, in terms of getting your bodies back and all that, but so much of it is between the ears, and it takes a certain level of determination and fight (to get this win)."

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with Georgia getting off four shots to UT's seven.

The score remained knotted up at zero until UT got a corner kick with less than 15 seconds remaining in the half, and Ellis got a head on the serve by Hannah Zaluski to record her first goal at Tennessee.

George opened up the scoring in the second half, driving a right-footed shot back across her body toward the far post to beat UGA's keeper in the 57th minute. Thomas earned the assist on the play, finding George just behind the penalty mark.

The Bulldogs pulled back within one 12 minutes later when Penn placed a shot into the side net of the far post from the left side of the box.

Thomas added an insurance goal in the 88th minute, receiving a pass from George and taking four touches toward the box before driving a shot into the back-right corner of the goal from the top of the eighteen.

UP NEXT: Tennessee will close out the regular season at home, hosting Kentucky in a 6 p.m. ET match on Thursday that will be broadcast on the SEC Network. The game will be UT's Senior Night, and before the game Brooke Wilson, Ashley Gabor, Mackenzie Ostrom, Hannah Tillett and Wrenne French will be recognized.

PLAYING FOR A TROPHY: A win on Thursday against Kentucky will earn UT its second-straight SEC East division championship and position the Vols as the No. 2 seed entering the SEC Tournament, giving them a bye into the quarterfinals.

EVERYONE IS DANGEROUS: With Ellis' first goal of the season, 14 different Volunteers have now scored at least one goal this season, and 14 of UT's 42 goals have come from players off of the bench.

SECOND HALF TEAM: Tennessee is outscoring opponents 28-6 after halftime, has scored nine goals during the final 10 minutes of regulation and has landed two golden goals this season.

GEORGE HEATING UP: Senior Mackenzie George has scored goals in back-to-back matches and added her eighth assist of the season against Georgia. She leads the team in assists and is tied with Brooke Wilson at fourth in goals scored with four.

BALANCED ATTACK: Thomas' goal against the Bulldogs was her seventh of the season, creating a three-way tie for first in goals scored with Claudia Dipasupil and Taylor Huff.