Sept. 19, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The UK women’s soccer team (6-2-0) continued its defensive mastery at home, recording their third straight shutout with a 2-0 win over South Alabama (2-5-1) to end the non-conference portion of its schedule.
The Wildcats are 5-0-0 at home this season and have yet to allow a goal on their home turf. It’s the best start at home for UK since the 2000 season when the Cats opened 5-0 at the UK Soccer Complex. It’s also the longest scoreless streak the Wildcats have recorded at home to start the season in school history.
“We want to defend our turf,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said. “We want to win all the games, regardless of where we are. Being home is special, and being in front of our crowd and our fans is special, and we are excited to be where we are. But, I still think we have a lot of work to do in the attacking third. We are clearly defending well.”
The Cats controlled the vast majority of possession in the first half, tallying 17 shots to South Alabama’s two, however, as has been the case over the past few games, the Wildcats were unable to capitalize as often as they would have liked.
Kelsey Hunyadi rediscovered her scoring touch, notching her team leading fourth goal of the year, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute. In control of the ball, Hunyadi fired off a shot directly at South Alabama goalie Melissa Drish. Drish was able to knock the ball down, but she couldn’t pull it in, deflecting it back out to Hunyadi who finished, giving UK the lead.
Hunyadi netted three goals in her first two matches of the season, but was held scoreless over the next five matches.
Caitlin Landis provided an insurance goal in the 71st minute off a converted penalty kick, her third goal of the season. Natalie Horner was driving with the ball on the near side inside the 18-yard box, trying to get in behind the Jaguar defense, however a USA defender tripped her, resulting in the foul call and ensuing penalty kick.
The UK defense yielded only five shots, while goalie Sydney Hiance was credited with three saves. The shutout for Hiance was her fourth on the season and the 19th in her career, moving her to a tie for third place on Kentucky’s all-time shutout list.
“I thought our possession was very good,” Lipsitz said. “Nothing bad can happen to you when you have the ball, and I was happy with our backline adjustments we made yesterday in practice. But, we know the SEC is incredibly strong, and it’s a whole new season for us. We have tremendous respect for the teams we will be playing.”
The game was the final tune-up for conference play which opens next weekend. The Wildcats will host perennial power Florida in its SEC lid-lifter on Friday before closing out its five-game home stand on Sunday with the highly ranked South Carolina Gamecocks.
