University of Tennessee Athletics
Thursday, October 1
Auburn, Ala.
7:00 p.m. ET
University of Tennessee
at
Auburn
PREVIEW: #13 Lady Vols Face Thursday Night Road Test at Auburn
September 30, 2026 | Soccer
The No. 13 Tennessee soccer team is set for its fourth road match of the 2026 season on Thursday night as the Lady Vols head to Auburn, Alabama, to take on the Auburn Tigers. Kickoff from Auburn Soccer Complex is set for 7 p.m. ET.
The match will air live on SEC Network with Mike Watts (PxP) and Jill Loyden (analyst) on the call.
Tennessee (6-1-3, 1-1-2) suffered its first defeat of the season on Sunday afternoon, falling 3-1 to No. 3 Vanderbilt at Regal Soccer Stadium. After a scoreless first half, multiple bursts of offensive quality in the second half saw the Commodores outmuscle the Lady Vols to a victory in the in-state rivalry match up.
A Historic Start: Tennessee's 3-1 defeat to No. 3 Vanderbilt marked the team's first loss of the 2026 season. The Lady Vols opened the campaign on a nine-match unbeaten streak.
It was the second-longest unbeaten streak to begin a season in program history, falling one short of the 10-match unbeaten start to the 2017 season, a successful campaign that ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Vols closed a six-match 2026 nonconference slate unbeaten at 5-0-1, marking the second consecutive season and sixth in program history Tennessee entered SEC play with an unbeaten record.
Driven by Derrien: Junior midfielder Ines Derrien was the heartbeat of Tennessee's attack in the 3-1 defeat to the Commodores on Sunday afternoon. Derrien tallied six of the Lady Vols' nine shots in the contest, one of which resulted in the team's lone goal. Her six shots were the most by a Tennessee player in a single match this season.
The match will air live on SEC Network with Mike Watts (PxP) and Jill Loyden (analyst) on the call.
Tennessee (6-1-3, 1-1-2) suffered its first defeat of the season on Sunday afternoon, falling 3-1 to No. 3 Vanderbilt at Regal Soccer Stadium. After a scoreless first half, multiple bursts of offensive quality in the second half saw the Commodores outmuscle the Lady Vols to a victory in the in-state rivalry match up.
A Historic Start: Tennessee's 3-1 defeat to No. 3 Vanderbilt marked the team's first loss of the 2026 season. The Lady Vols opened the campaign on a nine-match unbeaten streak.
It was the second-longest unbeaten streak to begin a season in program history, falling one short of the 10-match unbeaten start to the 2017 season, a successful campaign that ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Vols closed a six-match 2026 nonconference slate unbeaten at 5-0-1, marking the second consecutive season and sixth in program history Tennessee entered SEC play with an unbeaten record.
Driven by Derrien: Junior midfielder Ines Derrien was the heartbeat of Tennessee's attack in the 3-1 defeat to the Commodores on Sunday afternoon. Derrien tallied six of the Lady Vols' nine shots in the contest, one of which resulted in the team's lone goal. Her six shots were the most by a Tennessee player in a single match this season.
The 74th minute strike was Derrien's third goal of the season and the first from open play after scoring from the penalty spot on two previous occasions. She now has a career tally of eight goals, finding the back of the net five times over her freshman and sophomore seasons at USC.
With three assists in addition to her three goals, Derrien's nine points in 2026 are tied for the second most on the team, just one behind Kylee Simmons, who leads the Lady Vols with 10 points this season.
On the Road Again: Thursday's match at Auburn will be Tennessee's fourth road contest of the season, kicking off a two-match road stand for the Lady Vols.
Tennessee owns a 1-0-2 record on the road in 2026, earning a win over LSU and draws against Texas and No. 12 Virginia. The Lady Vols opened the SEC slate with consecutive road matches against the Tigers and Longhorns, earning four of a possible six points to begin league play.
Following Thursday night's contest at Auburn, Tennessee's next match will be at No. 11 South Carolina on October 9, marking the second and final time the Lady Vols will play consecutive road matches in the 2026 regular season.
A Defensive Reset: Sunday afternoon's 3-1 defeat to No. 3 Vanderbilt marked the first time Tennessee has conceded more than two goals in a match this season.
The usually stout Lady Vol defense was without starting center back Nyla Blue, who was serving a one-match suspension for a red card she received in the second half of the scoreless draw against Mississippi State. She is set to return for Thursday's match at Auburn.
Tennessee has recorded five clean sheets in 2026, all of which have come on home turf and with Blue on the field. The Lady Vols matched a program record with 13 clean sheets during the 2025 season.
Lady Vols in the Polls: Despite failing to record a win over the previous three matches, Tennessee remains within the top 15 of this week's IWSOC coaches' poll (No. 13) and TopDrawerSoccer.com's national rankings (No. 15).
The Lady Vols had spent the previous five weeks within the top 10 of the IWSOC coaches' poll, the second longest streak in program history after spending nine consecutive weeks in the top 10 in 2025.
A Look at the Tigers: Auburn enters Thursday's match with a 6-2-3 overall record on the heels of a 2-2 start to SEC play. The Tigers went unbeaten over a seven-match nonconference slate, earning four wins and three draws, before suffering the team's first defeat of the season in the conference opener, falling 1-0 to arch-rival No. 11 Alabama.
Auburn bounced back with two consecutive shutout victories, comfortably defeating Ole Miss 3-0 and cruising to a 2-0 win at Missouri. The team's second defeat of the season came this past Sunday at Arkansas, as the Tigers fell 1-0 in a tightly contested match against the Razorbacks.
Statistically, Auburn has seen the most success on the defensive end, allowing just three goals through 11 matches for a conference-best 0.27 goals-against average. Goalkeeper Ayana Yapo's seven complete game shutouts are tied for the most in Division I.
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