MATCH CENTRAL: #11 Tennessee At #10 North Carolina

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The 11^th-ranked Lady Vols will open the season on the road at No. 10 UNC on Thursday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET, and the contest will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

Tennessee is coming off two exhibition wins, having taken a 3-0 decision over #16 Notre Dame and a 5-1 victory over Dayton. UNC also picked up two preseason wins, shutting out VCU and #3 BYU with scores of 5-0 and 2-0, respectively.

Tennessee is looking for its first win against the Tar Heels. The teams have met on 12 occasions with the sole tie coming in the form of a 0-0 draw in Knoxville in 2004. The Lady Vols last played UNC in spring of the 2020-21 season, suffering a 7-0 loss at home. When playing at Chapel Hill, UT's record is 0-6.

SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA: The Tar Heels, who finished tied for sixth place in the ACC last year, return 10 players who started 11 or more games last season and 24 letterwinners. UNC is led by led second-team All-America defender Maycee Bell, and also returns its top two goal scorers in sophomore Emily Colton, a 2021 All-ACC Freshman Team selection, and junior Avery Patterson.

TENNESSEE ON TOP: The Lady Vols were picked to finish first in the SEC as voted on by the conference's 14 head coaches. UT is coming off a 2021 campaign in which it won a program-best 20 games, clinching an SEC Tournament Championship and going 20-3 en route to the NCAA Round of 16.

SIX LADY VOLS ON SEC WATCH LIST: Fifth-year seniors Abbey Burdette and Mackenzie George, senior Lindsey Romig, redshirt-junior Jaida Thomas, junior Lawson Renie and sophomore Taylor Huff were all named to the SEC Preseason Watch List. This is Romig's third straight appearance on the watch list, while George and Thomas are making their second straight appearances.

GUESS WHO'S BACK, BACK AGAIN: UT returns 10 starters from the 2021 SEC Championship squad, including Second Team All-American and First Team All-Region forward Jaida Thomas, 2021 SEC Freshman of the Year Taylor Huff, and First Team All-SEC forward Mackenzie George.

YOUNG GUNS: The Lady Vols welcomed the No. 6 signing class in the nation as rated by Top Drawer Soccer. The group features nine versatile field players and one goalkeeper with five players rated inside the IMG Academy Top-150 club player rankings. Freshmen Layla Shell and Macaira Midgley enrolled in January and gained valuable experience during UT's spring season.

THE KIRT ERA: The match at UNC will mark the first official contest of Joe Kirt's tenure as head coach. Kirt, who joined the Tennessee Soccer staff under Angela Kelly in 2007, was promoted to head coach in April of 2022.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Freshman Kameron Simmonds has found the back of the net in each of UT's exhibtion contests, once with a shot from the top of the 18-yard box and another with a header from eight yards out.

HUFF BACK AT IT: The 2021 SEC Freshman of the Year has continued that momentum into her sophomore campaign, scoring the game winner and adding a second goal on a PK against Dayton.

BURDETTE BRINGING HEAT: The fifth-year senior and 2021 SEC Tournament MVP found her stride early, scoring UT's first two goals in the exhibition against #16 Notre Dame.

LADY VOLS IN OPENERS: UT owns an 18-7-1 record in season openers and is 4-4-0 all time when opening the season on the road.

VS RANKED OPPONENTS: In 2021, UT tied its program-best win streak over ranked opponents, winning five straight from 9/23 - 11/19. All time, the Lady Vols are 45-52-11 (.358) against ranked teams.

UP NEXT: Tennessee returns home for another Top-25 matchup, hosting #23 SMU at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday. The game will be streamed on SECN+.

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Players Mentioned

Abbey Burdette

Mackenzie George

Taylor Huff

Mac Midgley

Lawson Renie

Lindsey Romig

Layla Shell

Kameron Simmonds

Jaida Thomas

University of Tennessee Athletics