Oct. 17, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The UK women’s soccer team earned another point in the Southeastern Conference standings after playing to a 1-1 tie with the Auburn Tigers (9-5-2, 3-3-2).
Both teams entered the locker room tied at 0-0, with ball possession being fairly even throughout the first 45 minutes.
UK (8-6-2, 2-4-2 SEC) broke through in the 53rd minute on Caitlin Landis’ sixth goal of the season. Kirsten Robinson won the ball in Kentucky’s defensive half and played it forward to Natalie Horner on the left wing. Horner served the ball to Landis who turned and fired a shot from 18 yards out for the score.
Her goal ties her with Kelsey Hunyadi for team high honors this season.
“We knew when Cat [Caitlin Landis] decided to come here, that we were going to get a goal-scorer,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said. “But what she has done is really develop the rest of our team. She has been willing to take the coaching and grow every day and has become great under pressure. At the end of the day, her job is to put the ball in the back of the net and she is doing a great job of that.”
The Tigers answered in the 72nd minute when Ana Cate took a pass from Mary Coffed along the end line and pushed a shot past UK goalie Sydney Hiance from about three yards out.
From then on the two teams fought evenly to forge the 1-1 tie.
Hiance finished the match with four saves, while lowering her goals against average to 1.11 on the season.
“One of the things I don’t think a lot of people get to see is the development of her as a human being and not just a goalkeeper,” said Lipsitz. “I’m more proud of her as a leader than anything else. I think that is a lot of what our whole program is about and it’s nice for the fans to hear about that.”
The stats show how evenly the match was played with Auburn taking 15 shots to Kentucky’s 14. The Cats posted seven shots on goal to Auburn’s five.
Coupled with UK’s 3-1 win over Alabama on Friday night, the Wildcats earned four big points on the weekend towards the SEC Tournament with three matches to play. The top eight teams in the league make it to Orange Beach for the postseason tournament.
“It was absolutely a great weekend,” Lipsitz said. “We played some of the best teams in the west. To come out of the weekend with four points is fantastic and it keeps us in line with what we want to do this season. I’m very proud of the team, I thought we did very well and I also thought Auburn was a tremendous team, so it was a great weekend.”
The Cats hit the road for the final time in the regular season on Thursday, traveling to Oxford, Miss. to take on the Ole Miss Rebels.
UK Post Match NotesThe series between Kentucky and Auburn is knotted at 7-7-3.Caitlin Landis is tied for seventh all-time among UK freshmen with six goals.Landis tallied three shots, giving her 46 on the season. That ranks fifth all-time among UK freshmen.Kirsten Robinson recorded her first assist of the season the second in her career.
