Tennessee forward Hannah Wilkinson is not your average Division 1 college soccer player.

At 21 years old, she has already played on some of the world’s biggest stages – the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the 2012 Olympics, and the 2010 and 2012 FIFA under-20 World Cups – for New Zealand. In 49 appearances for the Football Ferns, the powerful, 5’11’’ forward boasts 17 goals.

The latest of these was scored only one night prior to Tennessee’s final regular season game against Vanderbilt last Thursday.

As New Zealand took on the United States in the second of a two-game series in Columbus, Oh., Wilkinson chipped in a dramatic, 87th-minute finish to secure a 1-1 tie for her country. She had scored the only goal for the visitors in a 4-1 loss in the teams’ first encounter on Oct. 27th.

“It was a good feeling to score against the No.1 team in the world,” said Wilkinson. “It was just good that I was able to contribute because we worked really hard to prepare.”

Speaking with her over the weekend, Wilkinson talked me through the second goal; an effort which will be remembered for the iconic image of U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo watching helplessly as the ball soared into the net.

“It started with a game-changing move from our center back, Rebekah Stott. I was wide open, so I took my touch toward the goal and saw that Solo was quite far out and the right side was open so I chipped it in.”

“It was total silence in the stadium so I had to check to make sure it actually went into the net,” added Wilkinson, grinning in recollection of the goal.

After the game, the current Lady Vol was also able to live out another dream and exchange jerseys with Abby Wambach, the most dominant center forward in the history of women’s soccer.

“I was wary that she was frustrated with the result. It’s the US, and in every interview they say a tie is like a loss for them,” said Wilkinson. “But, I asked if they were allowed to trade jerseys and she said ‘yes’, so I was just really happy to get it afterward.”

The Kiwi arrived at Tennessee as a sophomore last year and led the team with 8 goals and 1 assist on her way to a 2012 All-American third team selection. She had missed the first five games of the season while on duty with New Zealand at the under-20 World Cup.

Aside from her height and power, Wilkinson is a pacey, intelligent player on the field. This season she learned the art of knowing when to keep her head down and run at goal on her own and when to look up and pick out a pass to a teammate. Her maturity is evidenced by her tally of 5 goals and 5 assists for Tennessee, including important contributions in the wins against No. 17 UCF and James Madison, as well as the last-minute tie against Auburn.

Although her statistics in 2013 are not exactly earth-shattering, Wilkinson has been unique in having to balance time as a college and international soccer player, as well as a student. It’s been a challenge that she has succeeded at and which makes her stand out all the more.

“In terms of the style, it’s a little hard because [Tennessee and New Zealand] play a different formation. For New Zealand, I play wide and here I play as one of the two upfront,” said Wilkinson. “But, to travel is also hard. Especially when I came back from Switzerland and jumped into the LSU game the next day.”

On two occasions, Wilkinson found herself playing only 24 hours removed from international duty; in the 1-1 tie away to LSU after helping the Kiwis win the Valais Cup, and the 3-0 demolition of Vanderbilt.

Despite a frustrating 3-5-3 record in the SEC, the Lady Vols finished 8-7-4 overall in coach Brian Pensky’s second season with the team.

While there have been disappointments, Tennessee has also experienced tremendous moments in 2013. The come-from-behind 2-1 victory away to UCF was inspirational, as well as the wins against No. 24 Texas A&M and No. 25 Ole Miss. Even the 1-0 loss to No. 13 South Carolina had its encouraging moments, with overtime being requited to separate the two teams.

For Wilkinson, there have been as many positives as negatives to take away from her second season as a collegiate soccer player in the U.S.

“I think we now know the importance of finishing. For me, it’s important to finish my chances when I get them,” said Wilkinson, who led the team with 65 shots overall. “A lot of our losses have come simply from our mistakes, so I think that is something that can be easily fixed.”

“Our tie against Auburn is something that I will never forget. Scoring in the last minute of the game just showed the team’s passion and heart to keep going. And, even though we lost to Kentucky I think there were moments in the second half where we were such a powerful team and literally on top of them. But, that’s also where it is important to finish our chances.”

Wilkinson and Tennessee will now anxiously wait to see if they did just enough to earn a coveted berth in the NCAA tournament. It would be a sad sight to see one of the most experienced international players in Division 1 miss out.