Sept. 20, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Fresh off a weekend which saw the No. 18 University of Kentucky women’s soccer team pick up two wins in the opening stanza of Southeastern Conference play against No. 13 Florida and undefeated Mississippi State, the Wildcats return to the pitch Friday and Sunday for a pair of games against Arkansas and LSU.
“We continue to build every game and everyday in practice,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said. “If we play our best, I think we have a good chance this weekend. But, at the same time, we know this is the SEC and every game is going to be an unbelievable challenge and the games are probably going to come down to one or two moments.”
UK checked in at No. 18 in this week’s edition of the Soccer America polls, marking the first time that the Wildcats have been ranked since Oct. of 2006. The Cats currently sit at 7-1-0 overall, including a 2-0-0 conference record for the first time since the 2003 season. The weekend SEC sweep was the first under Lipsitz.
Sophomore Arin Gilliland was named to the Soccer America National Team of the Week, while also accumulating the “Primetime Performer” honor for CollegeSoccer360.com and SEC Offensive Player of the Week. The Lexington, Ky., native registered five points last weekend, scoring the equalizer in Friday’s game with the Gators while also earning an assist. Sunday, Gilliland scored her third goal of the season to give UK a 3-0 lead.
In addition, Elk Grove, Ill., native Courtney Raetzman was named the SEC’s Freshman of the Week on Monday after scoring the game-winning goal in UK’s win over No. 13 Florida last Friday night. She also collected two assists in UK’s 3-0 shutout of MSU on Sunday afternoon.
Friday night’s game with Arkansas begins at 8:00 p.m. ET as the Cats and Razorbacks will duel for the 18th time in the series history. Kentucky won the last meeting in 2011 off a PK in the first frame of overtime, collecting the 2-1 win. UK leads the all-time series with the Hogs 11-4-2, including a six-match winning streak spanning from 1995-2003.
Sunday’s game at LSU is slated for 2:00 p.m. ET as the Tigers and Wildcats will battle it out for the 15th time in series history. Kentucky leads the all-time series with LSU, 9-4-2, but has dropped three of the last four meetings to Brian Lee’s side, including two straight.
For continuing coverage of UK women’s soccer, log on to UKathletics.com.
