NASHVILLE, Tenn. — No. 14 Tennessee broke open a scoreless game with three second half goals to defeat Vanderbilt 3-1 in soccer action Sunday afternoon at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex.
The Lady Vols improved to 9-2-2 overall and 4-1-1 in Southeastern Conference play while the Commodores dropped to 4-7-2 and 1-3-1 in league action.
“It was a game of two halves for us,” said Vanderbilt head coach Ronnie Coveleskie. “We played a really good first half. We fought hard and took care of the ball. We had absolutely no part of the ball in the second half. We were chasing the ball and lost our composure, and Tennessee just took control.”
The teams did not score in the first half before UT scored two goals in a span of 10 minutes early in the second half to take a 2-0 lead. Emily Redberg scored on a deflected shot in front of the net for the first goal at the 49:45 mark, while Kylee Rossi took an assist from Mick Ingram and scored from three yards in front at the 59:47 mark for the second.
Vanderbilt cut the deficit to one when Amy Wilcox scored on a penalty kick after Sarah Dennis was fouled from behind inside the 18-yard box. It was Wilcox’s third goal of the season at the 83:45 mark.
Tennessee then iced the game when Tanya Emerson scored from 10 yards out with a little over a minute left in regulation to make it 3-1.
“We tried to make it a game late with a late counter and a good look on frame to cut it to 2-1, but we then took a risk bringing players forward to try to score and UT capitalized on it,” said Coveleskie.
Tennessee controlled possession for most of the game, holding an 18-14 shot advantage, including a 9-3 shot on goal lead. The Lady Vols also had a 4-1 corner kick surplus. Tennessee keeper Jaimel Johnson made three saves, while Vanderbilt’s Rachel Bachtel made six.
Wilcox led Vanderbilt with two shots on goal, while Redberg led Tennessee with three.
The Commodores will be back in action this weekend at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex as LSU and Arkansas comes to town. Vanderbilt will take on LSU on Friday at 7 p.m. and will then take on Arkansas on Sunday at 1 p.m.
