The season ended a bit sooner than expected for the Chattanooga women's soccer team. The Mocs fell 1-0 to VMI in the opening round of the Southern Conference Tournament Wednesday night at Finley Stadium.
 
"It's a team that we've struggled with over the last few years," Chattanooga head coach Gavin McKinney said. "I thought we came out very flat. There was no reason for us to be the flat team. They're the ones that had to travel.
 
"The second half, I thought we responded a little better. Started to create chances."
 
Chattanooga's biggest chance in the latter period came in the 70^th minute off a corner kick. Bailey Gale fired the shot into the box and Jordan Mueller sent a header to the goal, but VMI keeper Ceci Keppeler got a hand on the ball and made the stop.
 
"We had good enough chances," McKinney said. "We just didn't have that sharpness about us that you need because there are no poor teams in the SoCon. Anybody can beat anybody on any day. They showed that here tonight."
 
Amber Levy got the Keydets on the board early with a goal in the 14^th minute. A scramble for the ball pulled Chattanooga keeper Ashton Shields away from the net and further into the box. A fortunate bounce away was picked up by Levy and sent into an unguarded net for the lone score of the game.
 
VMI edged the Mocs 7-6 on shots and UTC had a 3-2 shots on goal advantage but could not capitalize.
 
VMI is 7-8-2 overall and will advance to the quarterfinal round. The Keydets will take on second-seeded UNCG Saturday afternoon at the UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.
 
The Mocs closed out the season with an even 8-8-3 overall record, it's best since 2004 when UTC went 12-5-1. With a 4-3-2 league record, UTC finished tied for sixth, one point out of third in the SoCon standings.
 
"When we look back at it, we'll definitely be able to find positives," McKinney said. "We've won more games than we have in the last decade. We were 4-3-2 in league play. The only three teams that beat us are historically the top three teams in the league. A lot of positives we can take from that. We played well for long stretches against top, top opponents. We definitely think we've moved forward but we aspire to far more than where we finished the year."