Oct. 23, 2008
Lexington, Ky. – The UK women’s soccer team (4-11-2, 2-6-1 SEC) kept their SEC Tournament hopes alive, while snapping a six-game losing streak in the process, defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-13-0, 0-9-0) 3-2 in overtime.
Senior Nicola Holdsworth had a career night posting personal bests in goals (2) and shots (7), but none of them were bigger than her heroic golden goal in the 97th minute. Freshman Jenna Goblirsch sent a long crossing ball into the box that Giuleana Lopez batted towards the goal. Bulldog goalie Taryn Holland was there to deflect the ball away, but Holdsworth cleaned up the loose ball and recorded her first career multi-goal game.
After struggling on offense of late, the Wildcats exploded against the Bulldogs, outshooting them 31-5 on the night, recording the most shots since tallying 34 against Oakland on Sept. 19. Lopez paced the Wildcats with a career high nine shots, three on goal. Also posting personal bests were Stefani Kildare with four shots and Goblirsch with three.
“This team has been fighting all year and they deserved to get a good win tonight,” said UK head coach Warren Lipka. “Everybody fought their heart out tonight and will continue to do so in an effort to get back to Orange Beach (site of the SEC Tournament).”
Mississippi State wasted absolutely no time getting on the board, doing so 25 seconds into the game. UK goalie Laura Burton came off her line to clear the ball towards the center of the field. The Bulldogs’ Kevyn Shelledy controlled the ball and chipped a shot from 40 yards out, over the UK defense and a retreating Burton for the early 1-0 lead and the quickest goal in MSU soccer history.
The Wildcats tied it in the 20th minute on Holdsworth’s fourth goal of the season. The senior controlled a ball that was headed around at the top of the 18-yard box and buried a shot just under the crossbar, tying the game at 1-1.
The Bulldogs reclaimed the lead off a corner kick in the 50th minute. Bethany Frazier pushed the corner kick over to Mary Clare Scurria, who passed it in to Danielle Kite. Kite took the ball, turned and fired a shot just inside the right post for her second goal of the season and a 2-1 MSU lead.
Kentucky knotted the game at 2-2 in the 66th minute on Goblirsch’s second goal of the season. The freshman from Elizabethtown picked up a loose ball, split a couple Mississippi State defenders and fired a shot inside the left post tying the game.
The Wildcats had a golden opportunity to end the game two and half minutes into the first overtime when Lopez crossed a ball to Goblirsch who got a solid head on the ball from four yards in front of the goal. However, Holland made a diving safe to knock the ball away.
Laura Burton recorded her first collegiate win in the victory, while redshirt freshman Samantha Au saw her first collegiate action, earning a start against the Bulldogs. Au, who came to Kentucky in 2007, sat out last season with a knee injury. After rehabbing and recovering, she suffered another knee injury, forcing her out of action until tonight. The Suwanee, Ga. native saw 32 minutes of action.
Kentucky remains in the hunt for the eighth and final spot for this year’s SEC Tournament. UK sits in 11th place with seven points, six points behind eighth place Alabama. The Wildcats must win their final two games and hope for some help along the way to extend their SEC record postseason appearance streak to 15.
Kentucky plays its final conference road game Sunday in Oxford against the Ole Miss Rebels and returns home to pay tribute to its seniors on Friday, Oct. 31 in the final game of the season against Vanderbilt.
