Tennessee Draws With #18 Kentucky, 1-1

Thursday, October 5

Knoxville

7:00 PM

University of Tennessee

6-2-4, 1-1-3

Kentucky

7-0-5, 1-0-4

Kentucky

Tennessee

October 05, 2023 | Soccer

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By: Kimberly Hood

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Lady Vols played an undefeated Kentucky squad ranked No. 18 to a 1-1 draw in front of a crowd of 1,096 in Regal Stadium on Thursday.

Graduate Nayeli Diaz put Tennessee (6-2-4, 1-1-3 SEC) on the board in the 69^th minute, tallying her first goal on Rocky Top. Redshirt-freshman Abby Reisz made the start in goal, and redshirt-sophomore Ally Zazzara took over in the second half, logging a season-high-tying four saves on the night.

Úlfa Úlfarsdóttir was the goal-scorer for the Wildcats (7-0-5, 1-0-4 SEC). Marz Josephson was in net for UK, making six saves.

"They (Kentucky) have always been organized all year. They average five shots-against a game. They are really disciplined," said Tennessee head coach Joe Kirt.

"You see their commitment to numbers behind the ball and obviously, the game opened up a little bit in the second half. We stretched them out in our possession which allowed us to continue playing around them… (resilience) has been one of our strengths all year and continues to be - effort and fight and competitiveness. Our players leave it all out there, and I'm certainly proud of our team for their fight and their effort on both sides of the ball tonight."

Kentucky had the momentum early, ripping off four shots before UT added one to the score sheet, but by halftime, the Lady Vols had leveled the shot count with four of their own, one of which was on frame.

Tennessee went on to outshoot Kentucky 12-5 in the second half and on the night, took nine corner kicks to the Wildcats' three.

UK was first to score, finding the net in the 60^th minute when Jordyn Rhodes played a curving ball into the box that Úlfarsdóttir ran onto and blasted near post from 12 yards out.

Nine minutes later, junior Jordan Fusco ripped a shot on a free kick from just outside the box that Josephson couldn't handle, and sophomore Ally Brown ran onto the rebound and played a short pass back to Diaz who buried the ball from close range.

The Lady Vols finished the game with 10 players after Fusco was issued a second yellow in the 69^th minute, and UT had a chance to take the lead when Taya Hjorth was carded for a handball in the box with just over 10 minutes left in the match. Reshirt-senior Maria Nelson put the ball on frame with good pace, but Josephson was able to knock it wide, and the final score stood at 1-1.

UP NEXT: The Lady Vols will travel to LSU for a 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. CT) matchup with the Tigers on Sunday. The game will be televised by SEC Network.

SECOND HALF TEAM: The Lady Vols have netted five goals over the last three contests, all of which have come in the second half. On the season, 16 of Tennessee's 26 goals have been scored in the final 45 minutes of the game.