Oct. 21, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the first time since the 1999 season, the University of Kentucky women’s soccer team (12-5-1, 7-4-1 SEC) won its seventh Southeastern Conference game in a season 2-1 in a come-from-behind win over the Auburn Tigers on Sunday afternoon at the UK Soccer Complex in Lexington, Ky.
“At halftime, I thought Auburn wanted it more than us,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said. “We have had this conversation all season long about extrinsic motivation. Most of our motivation has to be `how good can we be?’ They were playing harder than us. We just talked about little things we had to do with our front line to be able break down their back line and I am happy with how we responded.”
The opening goal of the game came in the 30th minute off the foot of Auburn’s Tatiana Coleman, who struck for her team-leading seventh goal of the season. The strike was from about 12 yards out and was a volley off receiving the corner kick rebound. The strike was put past UK goalie Kayla King, ending UK’s three-match shutout streak.
The Wildcats then turned up the offensive volume, striking for two second-half goals. The first came just four minutes into the second frame as Arin Gilliland scored her second goal of the weekend in a volley from Alyssa Telang. The goal was a quick re-start off an Auburn foul. The service came in from Telang on the near side and was volleyed home by Gilliland past a diving Amy Howard. The goal was Gilliland’s second on the weekend, while Telang tallied her third assist of the season.
The game-winning goal came off the foot of Olivia Jester, who scored her first-career goal Sunday afternoon in the 54th minute of the game. The ball was headed in the net by the Cincinnati, Ohio, native and put Kentucky up 2-1. The service once again was provided by Telang, who charted her second assist of the game and fourth of the season.
The win was UK’s fourth-straight SEC win, as Kentucky has knocked off Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and Auburn consecutively to now hold an impressive seven wins in conference. It is the first time since 1999 that UK has recorded seven or more wins within the rigors of the SEC and first time since 2006 that Kentucky has won four-straight SEC games.
The win puts the Wildcats in fifth the SEC standings, as UK now holds 22 points in the conference. The Wildcats can move up to as high as fourth place heading into Orange Beach, Ala., with a win Thursday night vs. Vanderbilt and a loss by Tennessee.
Kentucky will play its final regular-season game Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. ET against the Vanderbilt Commodores. The night will also be Senior Night, as UK will honor its senior class of five in Natalie Horner, Brooke Keyes, Cassie Ransdell, Kirsten Robinson and Alyssa Telang.
For continuing coverage of UK women’s soccer, log on to UKathletics.com.
