Soccer Mocs play well in 1-0 opening loss to Kennesaw

The evolution of Gavin McKinney has begun.

The second-year University of Tennessee at Chattanooga soccer coach, moments after his team suffered a 1-0 loss to Kennesaw State in the season opener Friday night at Finley Stadium, looked at his players and told them he thought they gave a good showing.

"Throughout my life as a player, even as a coach, I've always said there's no in-between. You either win or you lose," McKinney said. "When coaching friends would ask me after a loss how we played, my answer was simple: We lost."

But Friday's performance started to change his thinking. The Mocs, playing a mix of freshmen and upperclassmen, stood toe-to-toe with the Lady Owls. Despite giving up a goal in the 14th minute to Shannon Driscoll, UTC never wavered and built a number of opportunities throughout the rest of the match.

Whereas Kennesaw State controlled the first half, with seven shots on goal and five corner kicks, the Mocs controlled possession in the second half, matching the Lady Owls in shots (two) and earning four corners, a couple of which turned into solid scoring chances.

UTC started five freshmen, including goalkeeper Melia Correa. Five other freshmen played off the bench.

"I actually thought we put a good performance in," McKinney said. "We did so much good in the game: We built possession; we played a nice brand; we created some chances. The final product wasn't there - we need to clean up a few areas in our game - but all in all, we put a good performance in tonight.

"I think if we continue to build on tonight and keep progressing the way we are, we're going to take a huge step forward this season."

The Mocs will play in Finley again Sunday, hosting Alabama A&M at 2 p.m.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleyftp.

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