The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga used its seventh different keeper this season after injuries depleted the position in a 5-0 loss at WoffordWednesday night in the first round of the Southern Conference women’s soccer tournament.
Freshman McKenzie Gregg (Newport, Tenn.), Chattanooga’s fourth field position player to guard the net, made 14 saves, just three out of the Mocs’ top 10 saves for a single game.
“It’s hard when you lose your “quarterback” and have no backup,” UTC Head Coach JD Kyzer said.
“McKenzie did a good job, but it’s hard when you lose both your keepers and five different people have to fill in.”
Gregg and her teammates held the Terriers to just one goal in the first half despite a 15-shot effort. It would be nearly 15 minutes into the second half before Wofford scored again.
“The first half was awesome, we were doing really well,” Kyzer said. “We were even doing decent in the second half. It was 1-0 at halftime, everything was working.”
In the 59th minute, Wofford’s Hannah Washko scored her fifth goal of the year with a header off a corner. The Terriers added a third goal less than a minute later when Washko’s pass made it to Annika Jansson at the 59:29 mark of the game to make it 3-0.
The Mocs defense would hold again for almost the next 30 minutes until a sliding pass found Faith Lifer alone in the box in the 84th minute. Brianna LaFontant picked up a through ball at the 84:10 mark of the game for the final score.
Junior Clare Latham (Cordova, Tenn.) had two shots for Chattanooga with four more players adding attempts for the Mocs including Loryn Queen’s (Lanesville, Ind.) shot on goal
The Mocs’ starting keeper Lauren Thomas (Germantown, Tenn.) suffered a season-ending injury in the opening game at UNC Asheville. She was replaced by freshman Hannah Dunn (Cookeville, Tenn.) who then suffered an injury in practice before UTC’s second game of the year at Austin Peay.
Without another keeper, the Mocs turned to midfielder Natalie Irwin (Nashville, Tenn.) who had sat out the previous season from an injury sustained in high school. Irwin covered the net for the next three games. She would be replaced for one game by former keeper Taylor Mangrum (Franklin, Tenn.) who had a year of eligibility remaining. Despite not training with the team this season, Mangrum made eight saves and gave up two late goals to the Bison.
Dunn returned for the next 12 games, making 108 saves on the year to enter the Mocs’ single season and career lists for saves. However, Dunn would once again sustain an injury that would keep her out of play.
In the regular season finale, defender Elena Sanchez (Homestead, Fla.) covered the net, but in the 25th minute had to leave with an injury and replaced by midfielder Micalah Crafton (Portland, Tenn.) without warmup or practice to finish the game.
“We’ve never had a season like this,” Kyzer said. “When you lose two keepers and five others have to step in, you can’t expect much. We worked really hard today and I’m proud of the team.”
Chattanooga closes out the season 1-17-1 while the seventh-seeded Terriers move to 6-10-0 overall and will take on No. 2 seed Furman Sunday afternoon in Greenville, S.C.