By Aidan Corley
A 30-minute weather delay was the headliner in a list of things on Sunday afternoon in Regal Stadium that would not have been on the script in the final dress rehearsal before conference play. It was ugly, it was grueling, but a penalty that’s been practiced countless times and a little bit of improv to make it happen was enough for Tennessee (5-0-1) to walk away with a 1-0 win over a scrappy Northwestern (2-3-2).
It was clear early on that the Wildcats didn’t make the trip to Knoxville to be Tennessee’s punching bag; they were here to be a nuisance and punch the Lady Vols around a little themselves.
Most of Tennessee’s opponents this season have been happy to set up in a low block and soak up pressure. It was plausible to think Northwestern might do the same, considering they had scored just four goals and conceded five through their opening six games, but they came out with an intensity and high press that carried through the whole game, asking all sorts of questions out of Tennessee. The Lady Vols were fortunate to get out of Regal Stadium with a win, but learned a lot in the process.
“Good win at Regal today, tough conditions on a Sunday. Proud of the group for getting a result,” head coach Joe Kirt said. “Toughed it out today, wasn’t our best performance, especially in the second half, but they got it done.”
Northwestern’s pressure forced Tennessee freshman defender Cora Fry into an errant back pass to nobody in the opening 10 minutes of play. The only player near the ball was a Northwestern striker who rounded goalkeeper Cayden Norris, but the angle was too tight to find the back of the net as she smashed it into the side netting. Tennessee got let off the hook early, but the message from Northwestern was clear: it wasn’t going to be an easy afternoon.
From the ensuing goal kick, Tennessee’s quality and relentlessness of their own showed, leading to the defining moment of the game.
Taylor Cheatham chased down what seemed to be a lost cause and caught a Northwestern defender napping on the ball. Cheatham won it off of her, beat a defender, and drove for the box. With a defender on her back, Cheatham was able to draw the penalty. An ice-cool Ines Derrien stepped up to the spot and buried the ball in the bottom right corner for her first goal of the season and to give Tennessee the lead.
Derrien was the fourth different player to take a penalty for Tennessee this season.
“Ines stepped up. She’s a talented player whether that’s in the run of play or certainly in a dead ball moment,” Kirt said. “Complete confidence in her as well as a number of other players on our team. We’re capable from that spot, and never really a doubt there from her or any of us.”
From the penalty to the first half water break was the closest Tennessee came to finding a groove and playing their style. Fry and Kylee Simmons both had looks at goal go wide before a golden opportunity presented itself to Shae O’Rourke, all in a matter of minutes.
Northwestern’s attempts to play out from the back were disrupted by Tennessee’s press, and the ball found its way to O’Rourke all alone in the box, who rushed her shot and fired it over the bar.
Doubling the lead while playing their best soccer of the day could have effectively killed the game in the first half, but the miss allowed Northwestern to hang around.
“The first half of this game, we were pretty comfortable for the most part. You know it’s should have, could have, would have, but could have been up a second goal, which makes things a little bit easier,” Kirt said. “But then the game changed. Teams are going to change; they’re going to evolve. The game’s going to look different, and how do we respond to that?”
Entering the second half, the elements were giddy to play their part. Just about 90 seconds into play, a lightning strike occurred, and the rain hit, leading to a delay for the next half hour and essentially the longest halftime ever.
“The biggest challenge is just staying mentally locked in,” Simmons said. “Our bodies are already tired, and that’s something we can’t control, but we can control being mentally locked in and staying focused.
“Everyone kind of has their own individual process of staying locked in,” Simmons added. “I know that some people go back to the training room, put heat on, some people put their headphones in and go back to listening to music, and I think everyone has to do their own individual job of making sure they hold themselves accountable.”
It’s safe to say that Northwestern was the more locked-in of the two teams when they eventually made it back out to the field.
The Wildcats had a new level of energy, and the Lady Vols looked like they were still waking up from a nap.
Tennessee had sloppy decision-making, made poor passes, seemed to forget how to communicate with one another, and Northwestern outworked them at everything.
Numbers will never tell the whole story, but they can give anybody an idea. Northwestern outshot Tennessee 9-1 in the second half. Tennessee was so pinned in that they were unable to earn a single corner in the second half.
For the large majority of Tennessee’s season, they have been thriving, but in the second 45 minutes, all they could do was survive.
Water breaks and VAR reviews allowed Kirt to get his team into a huddle and give all important instructions multiple times in the second half to help get them over the line.
“Just making sure we’re organized in terms of what we’re trying to do against the ball, and on the same page of what we do when we win it,” Kirt said. “The first 20 minutes of that half, the way we were shaped up, what we were doing, didn’t really like how that was going, especially with how big they were in the back. So trying to tweak that, put our players in better spots, but then when they’re in those spots they have to do their job too, weren’t great at either today.”
Ines Impact
USC transfer Ines Derrien has been almost ever-present in attacking midfield since making the move to Rocky Top. She has come up with assists, struck the woodwork multiple times in recent games, and consistently impressed throughout the season. Her first goal for Tennessee was overdue.
“She’s awesome,” Simmons said. “It was really good for her to just get the first one under her belt at Tennessee, so then all the rest are going to come. She’s been kind of knocking on that door, so I’m really proud she got the penalty today and buried it.”
Derrien plays with an unshakeable poise and composure that not many others possess. She has an effortless stride across the field with the ball glued to her foot, and the Lady Vols are at their best when she is pulling the strings and orchestrating plays. Never too fast or slow, always at her own pace, she can zip in a penetrating ball into the box just as easily as she can calm the whole game down for everyone. An attacking midfielder who looks like she is playing the game three steps ahead of anyone around her.
“She’s intelligent. She sees the game really well and puts herself in good spots, and has a technical ability to deliver,” Kirt said. “Her work rate this weekend has been tremendous. She’s fit; she’s strong. She puts herself in great spots to keep it, and she works incredibly hard defensively… she had a great weekend and a big part of what we do in terms of her ability to run in behind, her ability to help us keep it.”
Bring on the SEC
Delays, dominant performances, and tough tests, Tennessee has officially seen everything before entering SEC play. The adversity faced in the last two games will help the Lady Vols a lot moving forward.
“I’m actually really excited that we faced these last two games heading into conference play,” Simmons said. “You know how the SEC is; it’s incredibly physical, and those are going to be the same games we play from now until November and into the postseason. Being able to face those adversities and being able to fight through it and coming off with four points on the weekend and staying undefeated is really, really important.”
Up Next: Tennessee travels to Baton Rouge on Sept. 11 to open up conference play against LSU.