WEST LAFAYETTE, IN ? The Kentucky Wildcat women?s soccer team picked up where it left off last season, as its defense continued to stifle the opposition as the Cats shutout the No. 15 (NSCAA) ranked Purdue Boilermakers in a 0-0 tie.
In her first career action in the net, freshman goalie Laura Baker came up with five saves in 110 minutes of action to record her first career shutout.
?Laura Baker played great, that?s what she does, she comes up big in big games,? said head coach Warren Lipka. ?She gained a lot of experience last year watching Anne (Ogundele) come up big game after game. That left a huge impression on her and today she stepped up and gave us what we needed today.?
Both teams fought to a scoreless draw through the first 45 minutes, but not without some fireworks as both teams logged two shots on goal. The Boilermakers had the first legitimate scoring opportunity in the 23rd minute when Jessica Okoroafo took the ball off a corner kick and fired a shot that hit off the right post. The ball rebounded into a cluster of players in front of the goal where Okoroafo got a solid head on the ball, but Baker was there for the save.
Kentucky answered in the 37th minute when Tara Herold?s corner kick was cleared weakly by Purdue. Laura Speer took the loose ball and fired a shot that Purdue goalie Jenny Bradfisch pushed just to the right of the goal on a diving save.
?I didn?t think either team looked very impressive in the first half, there were a lot of jitters,? said Lipka. ?In the second half (Purdue) had most of the play. We were chasing around a lot, but we came back in the two overtimes and played a lot better. Purdue is a good team and they?re going to win a lot of games.?
The score remained locked at 0-0 through the second half despite two golden opportunities for the Boilermakers. Shauna Stapleton took a shot off a free kick just outside the top of the 18-yard box after a foul was called on the Wildcats? Kate Hughes. Laura Baker was there for the save to keep the game deadlocked.
Purdue?s second chance came with 4:36 left in regulation when Okoroafo got a shot over the Kentucky defense that hit off the crossbar before being corralled by Baker.
The Wildcats had their best scoring opportunity in extra three minutes into the first overtime when freshman Laura Novikoff found herself wide open and took a shot from 15 yards out that sailed inches over the crossbar.
Novikoff led the Wildcats with five shots while Tara Herold, Kate Hughes and Julie Hull all played the entire 110 minutes.
Kentucky will close out tournament action on Sunday when they take on Loyola-Chicago. Kickoff is slated for a 1:00 p.m. start. Live stats are available at ukathletics.com.
