University of Tennessee Athletics
Thursday, August 20
Knoxville, Tenn.
7:00 p.m. ET
University of Tennessee
vs
Milwaukee
PREVIEW: #16 Lady Vols Host Milwaukee for Thursday Night Clash
August 19, 2026 | Soccer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 16 Tennessee soccer team is set for its third match of the 2026 campaign on Thursday night, as the Lady Vols welcome Horizon League outfit Milwaukee to Regal Soccer Stadium for a 7 p.m. ET kickoff.
The match will air live on SEC Network+ with Charley Collier (PxP) and Tori Beeler-Watson (Analyst) on the call.
Admission is free for all regular-season Tennessee soccer matches. For fans planning to attend, note that Tennessee's clear bag policy will be in effect again this season. Regal Soccer Stadium will be a cashless venue for both concessions and the VolShop this season. Complete soccer match day information can be found here.
The Lady Vols (2-0-0) marked a successful start to the 2026 season last week, earning back-to-back multi-goal victories over Rutgers and South Alabama at Regal Soccer Stadium. It is the second consecutive season that Tennessee has opened with two consecutive wins as Tennessee won its opening five matches of the 2025 campaign.
Movin' Up: Tuesday afternoon's update to the United Soccer Coaches poll saw Tennessee rise eight spots from its initial preseason ranking of No. 24, the nation's biggest risers in this week's update. Now at No. 16, the Lady Vols are the second-highest ranked team in the Southeastern Conference, behind in-state rival Vanderbilt at No. 3.
Tennessee's initial inclusion in the preseason poll marked the tenth time the Lady Vols have received a preseason top-25 ranking in program history and the first since 2019.
The Simmons Show: Following an opening week consisting of two goals and one assist, fifth-year forward Kylee Simmons was selected as a finalist for national player of the week by the IWSOC.
Returning from a devastating knee injury that cost her the entire 2025 campaign, Simmons opened 2026 with a brace in a 4-1 victory over Rutgers, before assisting Ayva Jordan's game-winning goal in the first half of the 2-0 victory over South Alabama.
First Goal Feelings: Two Lady Vols scored their first career goals in Tennessee's 2-0 victory over South Alabama as Jordan and Devin Davis found the back of the net.
Jordan, a highly touted freshman from Las Vegas, converted on a glancing header midway through the first half for what proved to be the game-winning goal. Fifth-year forward Simmons, who leads the team with five points, and junior midfielder Bella Smith provided assists on the goal.
An unlikely goal scorer on the back line, Davis also scored from a header. The defender came forward on a corner kick for the Lady Vols, nodding home a quality set-piece service from Smith, who earned her second assist of the match. Davis' goal cemented Tennessee's second consecutive win to open the season.
Smith's two assists in the match marked the first multi-assist performance of her career, as the junior had just one career assist entering the match.
The match will air live on SEC Network+ with Charley Collier (PxP) and Tori Beeler-Watson (Analyst) on the call.
Admission is free for all regular-season Tennessee soccer matches. For fans planning to attend, note that Tennessee's clear bag policy will be in effect again this season. Regal Soccer Stadium will be a cashless venue for both concessions and the VolShop this season. Complete soccer match day information can be found here.
The Lady Vols (2-0-0) marked a successful start to the 2026 season last week, earning back-to-back multi-goal victories over Rutgers and South Alabama at Regal Soccer Stadium. It is the second consecutive season that Tennessee has opened with two consecutive wins as Tennessee won its opening five matches of the 2025 campaign.
Movin' Up: Tuesday afternoon's update to the United Soccer Coaches poll saw Tennessee rise eight spots from its initial preseason ranking of No. 24, the nation's biggest risers in this week's update. Now at No. 16, the Lady Vols are the second-highest ranked team in the Southeastern Conference, behind in-state rival Vanderbilt at No. 3.
Tennessee's initial inclusion in the preseason poll marked the tenth time the Lady Vols have received a preseason top-25 ranking in program history and the first since 2019.
The Simmons Show: Following an opening week consisting of two goals and one assist, fifth-year forward Kylee Simmons was selected as a finalist for national player of the week by the IWSOC.
Returning from a devastating knee injury that cost her the entire 2025 campaign, Simmons opened 2026 with a brace in a 4-1 victory over Rutgers, before assisting Ayva Jordan's game-winning goal in the first half of the 2-0 victory over South Alabama.
First Goal Feelings: Two Lady Vols scored their first career goals in Tennessee's 2-0 victory over South Alabama as Jordan and Devin Davis found the back of the net.
Jordan, a highly touted freshman from Las Vegas, converted on a glancing header midway through the first half for what proved to be the game-winning goal. Fifth-year forward Simmons, who leads the team with five points, and junior midfielder Bella Smith provided assists on the goal.
An unlikely goal scorer on the back line, Davis also scored from a header. The defender came forward on a corner kick for the Lady Vols, nodding home a quality set-piece service from Smith, who earned her second assist of the match. Davis' goal cemented Tennessee's second consecutive win to open the season.
Smith's two assists in the match marked the first multi-assist performance of her career, as the junior had just one career assist entering the match.
Dominant Defense: Tennessee has picked up where it left off defensively to begin the 2026 season. After opening 2025 with seven consecutive shutouts and tying a program record with 13 clean sheets last season, the Lady Vols have conceded just one goal through two matches in 2026.
The 2-0 shutout victory over South Alabama was an especially strong defensive performance, as Tennessee conceded just four shots and one shot on target in the team's first clean sheet of 2026. Goalkeeper Cayden Norris and defenders Davis, Milee Zych, and Nyla Blue played all 90 minutes at the back for the Lady Vols.
A Look at the Panthers: Milwaukee has been the class of the Horizon League, winning a regular season and/or conference tournament championship every single season since the conference rebranded in 2001, with the sole exception of 2014.
The Panthers capped the 2025 season with a fifth-consecutive regular season and tournament conference title. Milwaukee has appeared in all but four Horizon League Tournament championship matches since 2000.
The 2025 season saw Milwaukee post a 13-5-3 record, alongside an unbeaten 8-0-2 mark in conference play. After stumbling out of the gate in 2026 with a 7-0 defeat at Iowa, the Panthers bounced back with a dominant 4-0 victory at Northern Iowa to improve to 1-1-0 in the new season.
Thursday's match at Tennessee will be the first of two contests in SEC country for the Panthers, as a road tie at No. 25 Georgia awaits on Sunday afternoon.
Players Mentioned
D
/ Soccer
D
/ Soccer
F
/ Soccer
GK
/ Soccer
F
/ Soccer
M
/ Soccer
D
/ SoccerWednesday, August 12
Saturday, November 15
Tuesday, November 11
Tuesday, November 11
