ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Tennessee got a goal from Julie Edwards at the 39:39 mark of the second half and defeated Georgia 1-0 to win the SEC Women’s soccer tournament 1-0 on Sunday.

The victory earns the Lady Vols (10-10-2), the tournament’s No. 6 seed, their eighth consecutive NCAA tournament berth and fourth SEC championship.

The game’s only goal came on a hookup between two sophomores.

Tanya Emerson tracked down a loose ball near the baseline and fed a centering pass to Edwards, who sped to the middle of the box.

It was Edwards’ second goal of the season and Emerson’s second assist.

It didn’t look to be the best scoring opportunity for the duo, who were fighting off two defenders and the Georgia keeper, who was shaded toward Emerson.

But when the ball hit Edwards’ foot, she was glad to take advantage of the open half of the net.

“I wanted to defend the ball; I just didn’t want her to get a big serve out because then they could counter-attack, so I was just trying to lock it in,” Edwards said. “Luckily, I got sucked in; Tanya had the ball on her foot. She heard me calling for it. She found that little seam, and I was wide open so I just nailed it.”

Tennessee’s defense held the Bulldogs (11-10-1) to one shot on goal in the second half and only one good scoring chance. That came on a run-out by Carrie Patterson, who had a step on the Tennessee defender but fired wide with 11:20 left.

That was a testament to the Lady Vols, who rarely allowed Georgia any shooting lanes and always had tournament MVP Jaimel Johnson (four saves) in net if there was a slight lapse.

“I was pleased with our defensive pressure the entire game,” UT coach Angela Kelly said. “To Georgia’s credit, they started throwing numbers forward and caused a little confusion at times. We absorbed that, and we were able to be victorious in the end.”

The win turned around what had been a down season for the Lady Vols, who finished fourth in the SEC East — their lowest conference finish since 1999 — and looked like they were going to have their string of NCAA tournament appearances broken.

The outlook appeared even more bleak when Kylee Rossi, the SEC’s leading goal scorer this season, went down with an injury late in the regular season and was lost for the season.

That didn’t deter Tennessee, though. The Lady Vols won three one-goal games and one on penalty kicks, all against higher-seeded opponents, to win their first SEC title since 2005.

“I learned a lot of things at North Carolina, but I didn’t learn how to lose,” said Kelly, who was a star for the Tar Heels in the mid-1990s. “This year, win or lose this game, I was proud of the way this team faced the adversity. The backbone of this young team, to come back after that kind of adversity and this season, having it be our least-successful season thus far, it just says loads about them.”

Some of what carried the Lady Vols to the title was the pride that Kelly has instilled during her eight years at the helm, turning a program that had never been to an NCAA Tournament into a perennial winner.

Edwards says the team knew what was at stake, and the young group wanted to continue the tradition by taking home the title.

“We wanted it a lot,” she said. “We were watching film from 2002 when they won the SEC and all these other games. When we watched those games and saw how hard they fought and what it meant to be Tennessee, it kind of just hit home. We knew we had to keep going what they started. We just wanted to represent Tennessee; we came here to win, and that’s what Tennessee does.”

In addition to Johnson’s MVP selection, Edwards, Emerson and Chelsea Hatcher were all named to the All-SEC tournament team. The NCAA Tournament brackets will be announced tonight at 8 p.m.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.