Aug. 23, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The UK women’s soccer team (2-0-0) got two late goals to pull out a dramatic 2-1 win in their home-opener over in-state rival Eastern Kentucky (0-2-0) at the UK Soccer Complex Tuesday night.
“Well let’s first give credit to EKU and their coaching staff,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitzsaid. “They came up with a very good defensive strategy that frustrated us at times. We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities in the first half.”
After surrendering a goal six minutes into the second half, the Wildcats got the equalizer from senior captain, Kelsey Hunyadi in the 80th minute off a penalty kick. Freshman Arin Gilliland drew a foul in the upper right corner of the box resulting in the penalty shot. Hunyadi stepped up and buried the shot inside the left post, tying the game at 1-1. It was her second goal in as many matches on the year.
“When the score went to 1-1 we were all in for 2-1,” Lipsitz said. “We had pushed everybody forward, and we had changed our shape (on the field). We put some additional players up top, and there was never a thought in my mind when it went 1-1 that we were going to pull back. There was no way we were playing for a draw or we were playing for overtime and I thought we did a nice job of continuing to attack.”
Gilliland, who tallied three shots on the night, scored the game winner nearly seven minutes later off a flick from freshman Emma Brown. Gilliland took the pass from Pope, settled it and was one-on-one with Eastern Kentucky goalie Annie Wickett. Gilliland fired the shot past Wickett for the 2-1 UK lead and eventual winner.
“I’d rather teach with a win rather than a loss,” Lipsitz said. “We hope to teach our kids that our level wasn’t good enough, but we escaped. We have to get better every day, and we didn’t play our best. Again, give credit to EKU for their strategy.”
The Wildcats finished with 19 shots to the Colonels’ four, including 12 in the second half. It marks the second straight game UK has totaled a high shot rate, finishing with 20 in their season opener last Friday against Oakland.
UK freshman goalie Kayla Pricepicked up her second straight win of the season, collecting three saves in the win.
The Wildcats return to action on Friday at home, hosting the Ohio University Bobcats. Action is set to begin at 5:00 p.m. Live stats will be available at UKathletics.com and a live stream of the match can be seen at UKathletics.com/allaccess.
