University of Tennessee Athletics
Sunday, August 23
Knoxville, Tenn.
6:00 p.m. ET
University of Tennessee
vs
Western Carolina
PREVIEW: #16 Lady Vols Welcome Western Carolina for Sunday Night Senior Day Clash
August 21, 2026 | Soccer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 16 Tennessee soccer team closes a season-opening four-match home stand on Sunday night, hosting Western Carolina for senior day at Regal Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. ET, while pre-match senior day festivities will begin at approximately 5:35 p.m. ET.
The match will air live on SEC Network+ with Lucas Panzica (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. One-dollar hot dogs will be available for the second half only of Sunday's match. Complete soccer match day information can be found here.
The Lady Vols (3-0-0) continued an unbeaten start to the season with a 4-0 victory over Milwaukee on Thursday night, a match that featured four different goal scorers. Tennessee will continue to aim toward matching its start to the 2025 season, when the Lady Vols won five consecutive matches to begin the campaign.
Senior Day on Rocky Top: Sunday's contest with Western Carolina is Senior Day for Tennessee. Four Lady Vols will be honored during the senior day ceremony, set to begin at approximately 5:35 p.m. ET: Lauryn Berry, Dakota Brown, Shae O'Rourke, and Kylee Simmons.
Record-Setting Regal: Perhaps the only thing more impressive than the on-field performance during Thursday's 4-0 victory over Milwaukee was the fan support at Regal Soccer Stadium.
With an official final attendance figure of 5,489, Lady Vol nation shattered the stadium's previous attendance record of 4,040, set during a non-conference contest against Georgia Southern in 2025.
The record marks a continued upward trend in attendance at Regal Soccer Stadium. In 2025, Tennessee set program records for total attendance (24,878) and average attendance (2,764).
First-Goal Frenzy: Tennessee has had eight different goal scorers through three matches in 2026. All eight had not scored for the Lady Vols prior to this season, while five of the eight have tallied their first career goals in 2026.
The trend of first-time goal scorers emerged heavily in Tennessee's 4-0 victory over Milwaukee. All four Lady Vol goals were scored by a different player, marking the first goal on Rocky Top for each of the four.
Senior forward Taylor Cheatham opened the scoring for Tennessee against the Panthers. While she had previously scored twice at the collegiate level, her third-career goal was her first in orange and white.
Junior forward Kameran Bluette struck for Tennessee's second goal just 34 seconds into the second half, a first collegiate goal in her third season with the Lady Vols.
Jayla Blue became the second freshman to find the back of the net for Tennessee in 2026 when she scored the third goal of the match, the first of her collegiate career.
Sophomore defender Marlee Raymond added the cherry on top for Tennessee, nodding home a corner kick service for the Lady Vols' fourth of the match and another career first.
Distinguished 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 three matches in 2026, posting clean sheets in their previous two contests.
In those two shutouts, Tennessee conceded a total of just seven shots and two shots on target. Junior goalkeeper Cayden Norris has now contributed to 17 shutouts between the sticks in her career.
The Simmons Show Rolls On: After opening the season with a brace against Rutgers and an assist versus South Alabama, fifth-year forward Simmons contributed another assist in Tennessee's 4-0 victory over Milwaukee. Her total of six points through three matches leads the team.
Her strong start to the season comes on the heels of a return from injury. After missing the entire 2025 season due to an ACL injury, Simmons stuck with Tennessee, a decision that is paying dividends in 2026.
A Look at the Catamounts: 2026 has delivered a mixed bag of results thus far for Western Carolina. The Catamounts opened the campaign with a 4-2 home victory over Winthrop before falling 2-1 to UNC Wilmington in a second consecutive home contest. Most recently, they drew 0-0 at App State to sit at 1-1-1 through three matches.
Western Carolina was a solid outfit in the SoCon in 2025, earning the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament behind a 10-6-4 overall record and a 5-2-2 mark in conference. The Catamounts ultimately fell in the conference tournament semifinal to bring their season to a close.
Junior midfielder Gabriela Vatrano is a player to watch for Western Carolina. She is the team's leading scorer, notching a brace to lead the Catamounts in the season-opening win against Winthrop.
Sunday's match with Tennessee is the first of two contests against power conference opponents for Western Carolina, as the team is set to host NC State on Sept. 3.
The match will air live on SEC Network+ with Lucas Panzica (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. One-dollar hot dogs will be available for the second half only of Sunday's match. Complete soccer match day information can be found here.
The Lady Vols (3-0-0) continued an unbeaten start to the season with a 4-0 victory over Milwaukee on Thursday night, a match that featured four different goal scorers. Tennessee will continue to aim toward matching its start to the 2025 season, when the Lady Vols won five consecutive matches to begin the campaign.
Senior Day on Rocky Top: Sunday's contest with Western Carolina is Senior Day for Tennessee. Four Lady Vols will be honored during the senior day ceremony, set to begin at approximately 5:35 p.m. ET: Lauryn Berry, Dakota Brown, Shae O'Rourke, and Kylee Simmons.
Record-Setting Regal: Perhaps the only thing more impressive than the on-field performance during Thursday's 4-0 victory over Milwaukee was the fan support at Regal Soccer Stadium.
With an official final attendance figure of 5,489, Lady Vol nation shattered the stadium's previous attendance record of 4,040, set during a non-conference contest against Georgia Southern in 2025.
The record marks a continued upward trend in attendance at Regal Soccer Stadium. In 2025, Tennessee set program records for total attendance (24,878) and average attendance (2,764).
First-Goal Frenzy: Tennessee has had eight different goal scorers through three matches in 2026. All eight had not scored for the Lady Vols prior to this season, while five of the eight have tallied their first career goals in 2026.
The trend of first-time goal scorers emerged heavily in Tennessee's 4-0 victory over Milwaukee. All four Lady Vol goals were scored by a different player, marking the first goal on Rocky Top for each of the four.
Senior forward Taylor Cheatham opened the scoring for Tennessee against the Panthers. While she had previously scored twice at the collegiate level, her third-career goal was her first in orange and white.
Junior forward Kameran Bluette struck for Tennessee's second goal just 34 seconds into the second half, a first collegiate goal in her third season with the Lady Vols.
Jayla Blue became the second freshman to find the back of the net for Tennessee in 2026 when she scored the third goal of the match, the first of her collegiate career.
Sophomore defender Marlee Raymond added the cherry on top for Tennessee, nodding home a corner kick service for the Lady Vols' fourth of the match and another career first.
Distinguished 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 three matches in 2026, posting clean sheets in their previous two contests.
In those two shutouts, Tennessee conceded a total of just seven shots and two shots on target. Junior goalkeeper Cayden Norris has now contributed to 17 shutouts between the sticks in her career.
The Simmons Show Rolls On: After opening the season with a brace against Rutgers and an assist versus South Alabama, fifth-year forward Simmons contributed another assist in Tennessee's 4-0 victory over Milwaukee. Her total of six points through three matches leads the team.
Her strong start to the season comes on the heels of a return from injury. After missing the entire 2025 season due to an ACL injury, Simmons stuck with Tennessee, a decision that is paying dividends in 2026.
A Look at the Catamounts: 2026 has delivered a mixed bag of results thus far for Western Carolina. The Catamounts opened the campaign with a 4-2 home victory over Winthrop before falling 2-1 to UNC Wilmington in a second consecutive home contest. Most recently, they drew 0-0 at App State to sit at 1-1-1 through three matches.
Western Carolina was a solid outfit in the SoCon in 2025, earning the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament behind a 10-6-4 overall record and a 5-2-2 mark in conference. The Catamounts ultimately fell in the conference tournament semifinal to bring their season to a close.
Junior midfielder Gabriela Vatrano is a player to watch for Western Carolina. She is the team's leading scorer, notching a brace to lead the Catamounts in the season-opening win against Winthrop.
Sunday's match with Tennessee is the first of two contests against power conference opponents for Western Carolina, as the team is set to host NC State on Sept. 3.
Players Mentioned
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