Lady Vols strike fast, pin 2-0 loss on Furman

Tennessee's soccer team didn't wait long to end its two-game drought.

The Lady Vols, who hadn't scored in their two previous games, scored a 2-0 win over Furman on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Regal Soccer Stadium.

The Lady Vols got a quick goal during the first minute from sophomore Mick Imgram.

Imgram's blast from the right side came after a Furman player fell down, giving the Lady Vols a two-on-one opportunity in the box with Kylee Rossi.

Tennessee wasted no time and scored again as Rossi extended the lead to two, and provided fans with a bit of history. Her goal in the 16th minute was the 29th of her career, tying her with Laura Lauter Smith for the program's top mark.

The two-time SEC Offensive Player of the Year took a pass from Tanya Emerson on the right side, tucking the shot in the left side of the net from a tough angle past Furman goalkeeper Briana da Mota.

"You could have thought it was a cross, you could have thought it was a shot, you could have thought whatever you wanted," Rossi said laughing.

Tennessee had other chances in front of the Furman net during the first half, but failed to put many of the shots on goal.

"I wasn't pleased that we weren't able to get more than two," said Tennessee coach Angela Kelly, whose team will play host to Clemson at 2 p.m. Sunday. Clemson defeated Charlotte, 2-0, on Friday. "In soccer, the scariest lead is always a two-goal margin."

Furman had scored the most goals in the country in the regular season, notching 64 goals in 21 games, but found little room to operate in the opening half as the Paladines failed to put a shot on the Tennessee goal.

Though the game opened up in the second half, the two quick goals by the Lady Vols seemed to take Furman off its game.

"Tennessee's just too good to give them 15 minutes at the beginning of the game because they're going to make you pay for it," Furman coach Andrew Burr said.

Furman's best chance of the second half came in the 67th minute when forwards Anna Betton and Emily Krankowski had a two-on-one opportunity in front of the Lady Vols' net, but Tennessee's Erica Griffith managed to break up the chance after Betton floated the pass.

"With the speed of Anna and Emily in particular we give some backs some trouble," Burr said. "But it's just all about executing. That final pass, really making sure it's a firm ball."

Neither team had many scoring opportunities after that, as Tennessee won the overall shot count 15 to 5.

Despite the win, Kelly didn't sound pleased with her team's effort.

"We all completely understand that our performance must improve or our season will be ending shortly," she said.