STARKVILLE — Katie Lenz and the No. 23 University of Tennessee women’s soccer team wanted to make something out of their weekend.
After stumbling Friday at the University of Florida, Lenz and the Lady Volunteers showed the focus and resiliency Sunday they will need to complete the gauntlet otherwise known as the Southeastern Conference regular season.
Lenz had one goal and two assists and Iyana Moore was credited with three goals in a 6-0 victory against Mississippi State University at the MSU Soccer Field.
“We got our juniors and seniors together and we said we are the leaders of the season, so we had to pick everybody up,” Lenz said. “We had to get a result. We had to be determined and play with each other and we would be fine.”
Hannah Wilkinson and Gabby Santorio also scored for Tennessee (7-2-2, 2-1-1 SEC), which held a 33-8 edge in shots. The victory was even sweeter considering Tennessee opened its weekend road trip Friday with a 2-1 loss at Florida. The Lady Volunteers bounced back with their most goals in a game this season. The margin of victory also was the largest in a SEC game this season.
The loss was MSU’s worst in the SEC since a 7-0 loss to the University of South Carolina on Oct. 3, 2010. It also left MSU (7-3-1, 0-3-1) with LSU and South Carolina as the only SEC teams without a victory through the first two weekends of play.
That road doesn’t figure to get any easier, either. Both teams will play Friday-Sunday doubleheaders the next four weekends before they wrap up the regular season with games Thursday, Oct. 25.
For Tennessee, the trip to Starkville came at the right time and helped Lenz, a forward from Mechanicsburg, Pa., score her first goal of the season. The score epitomized the resolve first-year coach Brian Pensky said the Lady Volunteers will need the rest of the season. Lenz collected a loose ball in the offensive third and immediately attacked, weaving through the defense and beating goalkeeper CJ Winship to give the Lady Volunteers a 3-0 lead.
“I got the ball turned and I turned on the girl and I saw an opening in the middle,” Lenz said. “Their center defender was kind of out of position, and I knew I could beat her with my speed if I did a cut, and I like to cut, so I just did that. I just shot low to the corner and it went in.”
Pensky, who was the head coach of the University of Maryland women’s soccer team last season, said the team still was a little “bummed” from its loss to Florida on Friday, but that the players were determined to get over the “hangover” from a close loss to an Eastern Division rival.
“Our theme starting really Friday night when we met with some of our leaders was 1 o’clock Sunday because we need a win,” Pensky said. “In the last three weeks, we had only won one game coming into today. We played some good teams and we had played well and outshot some opponents, but we hadn’t won, so I think our team had lost a little bit of that swagger and a little bit of that confidence. We were determined to get that back.”
Pensky thought before the match that Lenz would have a good day. Lenz was one of the players in the van Pensky drove to the game, and he said he meant to tell her he had a good feeling she would have success Sunday. Even though he forgot to tell her, Lenz picked up on the vibe and helped the Lady Volunteers control the action from the start. An interception by Kylie Bono on a pass into the middle of the field led to a goal by Wilkinson 16 seconds into the match that set the tone.
MSU goalie Skylar Rosson had two saves before she received a red card coming out to challenge Wilkinson on a rush in the 19th minute. Winship dove to her right to stop the penalty kick by CC Cobb to boost MSU’s spirits. took the ensuing penalty kick for Tennessee, but sophomore CJ Winship dove to her right to make the save. Winship had three more saves in the first half and freshman defender Addie Tomlin headed a ball off the goal line later in the half, but Moore’s first goal added to the lead with nearly six minutes. The sophomore forward took a lead pass and split two defenders right up the middle to make it 2-0.
MSU coach Neil Macdonald said it was difficult to lose Rosson that early in the match, and that he felt his team had to chase the action for much of the rest of the match.
MSU also played without sophomore defender Shannen Jainudeen, who didn’t play Friday in a 4-2 loss to Vanderbilt University.
“We made a horrendous mistake right off the kickoff, but overall I thought both teams were pretty flat off the first whistle,” Macdonald said. “Not having Shannen is a massive blow to us. I think it really affected us Friday night, as well, even from a psychological standpoint not having someone we know is a rock back there for us.”
Tennessee controlled the ball from the start of the second half and gained momentum after Lenz’s goal. Lenz said the team hasn’t had to make a big transition adjusting to Pensky’s possession style of play. With players like Wilkinson, Moore, Cobb, and Tori Bailey up top and in the midfield who can make things happen, Lenz is confident Tennessee, which has a league-leading 10 goals in SEC action, will continue to make things happen.
“We are getting used to where everybody is going to be and knowing we are going to have a midfielder going in behind and trying to lay it off and playing it long,” Lenz said. “The formation is different, so that is something to adjust to, but we worked (on the possession style) a lot in the spring.”
Pensky said determination will be a key for his team to fight off the mental and physical ups and downs that are part of the marathon that is the SEC regular season. With two more weekend road trips remaining, Pensky hopes Tennessee learned a lessons and plays with the same mind-set it showed Sunday the rest of the way.
“It is everything,” Pensky said of determination. “Every team in this league is good, and any team on any given day can make life hard for you, so the mental aspect and your approach to things is going to determine everything.”
MSU will play host to LSU at 7 p.m. Friday, while Tennessee will play host to the University of Arkansas at 6 p.m. Friday.
n Ole Miss 1, Alabama 0: At Tuscaloosa, Ala., Junior Mandy McCalla scored the only goal and the Rebels used a big save by goalkeeper Kelly McCormick on a penalty kick to edge the Crimson Tide at the Alabama Soccer Stadium.
McCormick had eight saves on the day to help Ole Miss (9-2, 2-2 SEC) shut out Alabama (6-3-1, 1-2-1) for the first time this season. Her save against Theresa Diederich came minutes before McCalla scored her 10th goal of the season on a penalty kick in the 60th minute.
Ole Miss coach Matthew Mott praised the effort of McCormick and his defense for helping his team bounce back from a 2-1 loss Friday at the University of Missouri.
“It’s so hard to get a shutout on the road in the Southeastern Conference,” Mott. “We fought hard for 90 minutes and right up to the last kick of the game. We got a great save late from Kelly (McCormick). It was a gutty performance for us against a good team that is well coached and organized.
“Our back line is really coming together and they played fantastic. Maddie Cunningham, Maddie Friedmann, Jessica Hiskey and Samantha Sanders all played well. Emily Sinovich came off the bench and gave us great minutes back there. Kelly (McCormick) was just lights out on the road in the SEC.”
Ole Miss will play at 6 p.m. Friday at Florida, while Alabama will play at 7 p.m. Friday at Vanderbilt.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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