Vols Shut Out Wake Forest, 2-0, For Fourth-Straight Win

Saturday, March 6

Knoxville, TN

6:00 PM

University of Tennessee

8-4-1, 4-3-1

Wake Forest

3-6-1, 3-4-1

Wake Forest

Tennessee

Photo by: Kate Luffman/Tennessee Athletics

Vols Shut Out Wake Forest, 2-0, For Fourth-Straight Win

March 06, 2021 | Soccer

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Freshman sensation Jaida Thomas scored a brace for the third match in a row, lifting the Vols to a 2-0 victory over Wake Forest Saturday night at Regal Soccer Stadium. Tennessee has won four-straight matches to open the 2021 spring portion of the season and is 6-1 in its last seven contests overall.

"Obviously a fantastic win for our team, a great team win," head coach Brian Pensky said after the match. "A shutout at home against a team that, even though their record isn't the greatest, it's a team that came in here with four out of their five losses to top-10 teams.

"A little bit of a rough start for us. We were on our heels and not very sharp, but good teams make you do that. We escaped that 15 minutes, and then started to create some chances, and started to put them on their heels a little bit.

"I thought getting a goal before half was fantastic, but I thought it was also a just 1-0 halftime score, given the quality of those two or three chances that we had just before that. Jaida just made something out of nothing midway through the second half and really put them on their heels. I thought defensively, for a big bulk of the second half, they couldn't get out of their back half. A lot of that had to do with our pressure defensively and our organization and our kids effort and fight. I was just really proud of this group."

Thomas logged her fourth-consecutive multi-goal outing with a pair of scores against the Demon Deacons (3-6-1, 3-4-1 ACC). The Vol striker tallied the match-winner with 72 seconds remaining in the first half before providing Tennessee (8-4-1, 4-3-1 SEC) with a 2-0 cushion in the 73rd minute to solidify the final score.

"That's just who Jaida is," Pensky said. "She was a pretty big-time basketball player in Dallas, so her instincts and feel are very good. When you play basketball, you've got to anticipate. Same thing as a goal scorer. You've got to put yourself in positions to score goals, and she does that. She feels that very well, and her want to score is off the charts. You match those instincts with her strength, speed, ability to put it in the back of the net, and that want-to, and you've got a kid that has now score nine goals in four games this spring. That's pretty darn impressive."

Thomas first scored with a superb individual effort, taking on two Wake Forest defenders at the top of the box and forcing Deacon goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks off her line. The Irving, Texas, native split the center backs before gently slotting the ball into the lower right corner to send UT to the halftime locker room with a 1-0 lead.

The Vols gained a 2-0 advantage on Thomas' second tally in the 73rd minute, as the redshirt freshman won possession in the midfield and charged for the goal. Beating out two Deacon challengers, Thomas took a touch towards the frame the was blocked by Parks but remained composed—gathering the rebound and firing into an empty net for the match's final score.

Goalkeeper Lindsey Romig logged her third clean sheet of the semester, playing all 90 minutes between the posts and recording two remarkable saves on the night. The Vols have conceded just one goal this spring, outscoring their opponents 18-1 over the last four matches.

"I give our kids a ton of credit, our back line a ton of credit, and Lindsey a ton of credit," Pensky said. "I also give [assistant coach Jonathan Morgan], who's been working with our backs, a ton of credit. We've been trying to get them connected in a different way than we were in the fall. Jon's done a fantastic job.

"Obviously [assistant coach Joe Kirt] coaches Lindsey in goal, and [volunteer coach Hemant Sharma] helps out there as well. Those guys have done a great job."

For the match, shots were deadlocked at 10 apiece for both sides with UT posting a 5-2 lead in shots on goal. The Vols had a 10-7 advantage in corner kicks with an 8-2 disparity in the second half.

"Our players showed incredible fitness tonight," Pensky said. "I credit Johnny Fabrizius, our strength coach, who gets these kids in fantastic shape, makes sure they're recovered and doing all the right things. And Greg Mytyk, for making sure they stay healthy. We've been using a lot of kids for a lot of minutes, so we have a lot of kids who are 75-to-90-minute fit."

With the win, Tennessee improved its win streak over non-conference opponents at home to 23-straight. The current four-match streak is the longest for the Vols since winning four SEC matches in a row from September 20 to October 4, 2018.

"I think the win streak is just breeding confidence for our team," Pensky said. "Sometimes confidence is a funny deal. When you win games, you go from hoping to win to expecting to win and just carry yourself a certain way. This team feels like we can play with a lot of teams and beat a lot of teams, and they've got a bit of a chip on their shoulder."

UP NEXT: The Vols will complete their three-game homestand next weekend, welcoming the No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels to Regal Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 13.

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