Cover photo: Amy Thompson, #17 during the match against Xavier at Regal Socccer Stadium on Aug. 26, 2018. Stu Boyd II / The Daily Beacon
Vol soccer remains undefeated with shutout on Sunday Noah Taylor
Contributor For the head coach of Tennessee soccer, Brian Pensky, the key to Thursday’s come-frombehind tie versus Wake Forest was leadership. It took leadership from the Vols to score a late, second-half goal to avoid their first loss of the season, and in their return to Regal Soccer Stadium on Sunday, it took confidence to earn their third win of the season. After what appeared to be yet another defensive battle in the making, No. 13 Tennessee (3-0-1) scored a goal late in the first half, and then added two more to open the second half as the Vols cruised to a 3-0 win over the Xavier Musketeers (1-3-0). “Obviously we don’t like to tie,” Pensky said. “A tie on the road certainly doesn’t kill you. It gives us some confidence coming out of the game and at the same time inspires us.
Volume 136 Issue 3
“Here, we come out today on a Sunday. We hadn’t won in a week, so we were a little anxious and a little bit hungry to get back in the win column.” In what was a back-and-forth first half, it looked as if goals were going to be few and far between for both teams. However, freshman forward Amy Thompson got the Vols on the board in the 36th minute of the first half with the third goal of her young career. “Amy (Thompson) changed the game,” Pensky said. “(There are) three home games right now for Amy Thompson with three goals. That’s not a bad start to a college career at Regal Soccer Stadium.” Thompson has now scored first for Tennessee three times this season. According to Pensky, Thompson’s goal provided the confidence Tennessee needed going forward into the intermission. “That was a massive goal,” Pensky said. “It
gave us a chance, up a goal, to get in the locker room and give our kids a little bit of confidence.” With the lead to open the second half, the Vols were determined to put the Musketeers in a hole that would be hard to overcome within the final 45 minutes. Less than two minutes into the second period, a Xavier foul in the box set up a penalty kick opportunity for Thursday night’s hero, junior midfielder Katie Cousins. Cousins made the most of it, scoring a goal that would give Tennessee a 2-0 lead. The second half surge did not stop with Cousins’ kick. Just 24 seconds later, senior midfielder Anna Bialczak snuck one past the goalkeeper to extend the Vols lead to 3-0. “We just talked about it as a team,” Pensky said. “Any time you score early goals, goals right before half, end of game goals, changed the game. We scored three inside of five minutes of either half.
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“It obviously changed the game and took the wind and the air out of their sails.” Following Bialczak’s goal, the Tennessee defense dominated for the duration of the half, keeping the ball on its side of the field and allowing just one shot by the Xavier offense in the entire half. “I thought our defensive pressure was better,” Pensky said. “We were a little bit more prepared and organized to deal with how they were trying to attack us. I thought we were able to get pressure higher up the field.” In the shots on goal category, the Vols led 17-6, as senior goalkeeper Shae Yanez finished the game with two saves. Tennessee continues its home stand on Thursday, as the Vols play host to Wright State out of the Horizon League. The match will take place at Regal Soccer Stadium, and is slated for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff.
Monday, August 27, 2018