Thomas, Romig Pick Up SEC Weekly Honors

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Tennessee soccer standouts Jaida Thomas and Lindsey Romig have each been recognized by the Southeastern Conference, as the league office announced its weekly awards Monday afternoon.

Thomas was selected as the SEC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring five goals in her first two matches of the semester, while Romig was tabbed as the league's Defensive Player of the Week after recording back-to-back shutouts to start the 2021 spring campaign.

A redshirt-freshman forward from Irving, Texas, Thomas had a hat trick in UT's 6-0 win over Gardner-Webb on February 14 and followed that performance with two goals and an assist in the Vols' 7-0 romp at App State on February 20.

Thomas is the second player in program history to score five goals in a two-game stretch. Former Lady Vol Allison Campbell accomplished the feat twice, tallying six against UNC Asheville (5) and Xavier (1) in 1998 and five against South Carolina (4) and Ole Miss (1) in 1999.

Scoring three times in a 15-minute span in the spring home opener against Gardner-Webb, Thomas became UT's first freshman to record a hat trick since Lady Vol All-American Keeley Dowling had three scores at Alabama on October 7, 2001.

At App State, Thomas scored UT's first two goals of the match as the Vols rolled to a 7-0 victory in Boone, North Carolina. She also added an assist on Tennessee's seventh goal, helping the Vols secure their highest margin of victory on the road since an 8-0 triumph at ETSU on October 9, 1998.

"Jaida has factored into seven of our goals over these first two games," head coach Brian Pensky said. "That's a lot of goals. She's been an absolute handful, for sure.

"I do know that she'd give credit to her partners up there as well. [Mackenzie George] and [Abbey Burdette] don't necessarily have the crazy number of goals that Jaida has, but collectively those three have played a part in almost all 13 of our goals.

"What's great to see about Jaida, is that she's putting herself in good positions to score goals. She's hungry to score, and that's a trait the best forwards all have."

A sophomore goalkeeper from Midlothian, Virginia, Romig opened the spring season playing 180 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal. With four shutouts so far during the 2020-21 campaign, she currently ranks first in the SEC and 12th in the NCAA.

Romig totaled nine saves between the two contests, bumping her season total up to 46 which ranks sixth in the conference. She also lowered her season goals-against average to 1.23, the sixth-best among SEC goalkeepers.

"Two games, no goals allowed, clean saves, good distribution, great communication," Pensky said. "Lindsey just keeps getting better and better - nice for her to get this well-earned recognition!"

The Vols have now collected six weekly awards from the SEC during the 2020-21 campaign. Thomas was twice named the league's Freshman of the Week in the fall, while Romig and senior defender Wrenne French were also each named SEC Defensive Player of the Week last semester.

The Vols return home this weekend for a match with defending Big East Conference champion Xavier on Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Regal Soccer Stadium.

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

University of Tennessee Athletics

Players Mentioned

Abbey Burdette

Wrenne French

Mackenzie George

Lindsey Romig

Jaida Thomas

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