KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 9 Tennessee soccer team hosted Mississippi State at Regal Soccer Stadium on Thursday night for its first SEC home match of the season, battling the Bulldogs to a scoreless draw.
The Lady Vols (6-0-3, 1-0-2) remain unbeaten in 2026 with the team’s second consecutive draw. An extremely physical contest, the match concluded with 30 fouls between the squads in addition to three cards being issued by the referee.
“Good to be back home at Regal. Good to get a shutout. That was about the best of our performance tonight,” head coach Joe Kirt said after the match. “Thankfully we got a point out of it after we put some things together in the second half to be more competitive.”
Tennessee was unable to overcome an uncharacteristic slow start. Entering Thursday’s match, the Lady Vols had scored in the first 30 minutes of all eight matches this season. Not only was Tennessee limited to a zero on the scoreboard, but the Lady Vols were unable to record a single shot in the first half.
The second half saw Tennessee pick up the pace on the offensive end, tallying six shots behind increased pressure on the Bulldog goal. That momentum was quickly halted in the 77th minute as junior defender Nyla Blue was given a red card for denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity after a VAR review.
Tennessee remained resilient defensively, thwarting away the Mississippi State attack to salvage a draw and remain unbeaten. Junior goalkeeper Cayden Norris recorded a season-high three saves to earn her fifth clean sheet of the 2026 campaign.
Next up for the Lady Vols is a top-10 rivalry match up, as Tennessee welcomes No. 3 Vanderbilt to Regal Soccer Stadium on Sunday.
“Hopefully we can come out and do the things that we didn’t do at a high level tonight,” Kirt said about Sunday’s match against No. 3 Vanderbilt. “They’re certainly capable of it. They’ve done it all year. Teams have tough nights. That’s the reality of a season. We got a point out of it, so that’s definitely a positive. But we have to get it right and get back to us, and we weren’t us tonight.”
Kickoff with the Commodores is set for noon ET and the match will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
