Nov. 9, 2001
KENTUCKY FALLS TO No. 6 FLORIDA IN SEC SEMIFINALS
BATON ROUGE, La. – The University of Kentucky women’s soccer team (12-7-1) surrendered a hat trick to All-American Abbie Wambach and was eliminated by No. 6 Florida (16-3-1), 3-1, in the semifinal round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Baton Rouge, La. on Friday.
“Our girls played well, they fought hard and we did some good things offensively,” Coach Warren Lipka said. “But we lost to a great individual effort by Abby (Wambach). She scored two of her three goals off headers, she’s dominant in the air and very hard to defend.”
Kentucky struck first at the 16:46 mark when All-SEC senior forward Annie Gage recorded her 11th goal of the season and third of the tournament. Sophomore midfielder Jen Wilkinson darted through the Florida defense, obtained possession of the ball and slipped it to Gage who was left one-on-one with Florida goalkeeper Jordan Kellgren. Gage dribbled, faked left and beat Kellgren to the bottom right of the Gator net. With the goal, Gage tied the all-time points scored record at Kentucky, giving her 107 in her career. Kim LaBelle set the record from 1994-97.
It took only two minutes for the Gators to bite into the Wildcat lead, as the SEC Player of the Year, senior Abby Wambach, dented the UK net in the 18th minute off a header from senior Karyn Hall. Hall sent the ball in from a cross from the left flank and connected with Wambach who fired from 10 yards out.
The Wildcats had to play three minutes without All-SEC forward Keri Boyce when she twisted her right knee in a struggle for possession of the ball with UF’s Crystal Frimpong. Upon reentering the match, the injury would prove too much for Boyce, sending the Birdsboro, Pa. native to the Kentucky sideline in the arms of her teammates.
Eight minutes later, Wambach would strike again. Winning a header from a crowd in front of the UK goal, the All-American beat senior netminder Beth Wells to the bottom right, giving Florida a 2-1 edge at the 32:30 mark of the first period, ending the first half scoring.
Though the teams battled evenly throughout the majority of the second period, Wambach was not finished for the night. Under the lights at the LSU Soccer Complex, the senior forward recorded her ninth career hat trick by rocketing a laser from 15 yards in the center of the field that blasted the back of the net at 68:57.
Kentucky will now await an invitation to the 2001 NCAA Tournament to continue its season. The selection show will be televised on FOX Sports Net South on Monday, Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. Bracket announcements can also be accessed by going to www.NCAASoccer.net.
UK 1 0 1UF 2 1 3Goals: Gage, UK (Wilkinson), 16:46, Wambach, UF (Hall), 18:26,Wambach, UF (Rust), 32:20, Wambach, UF (Sellers, Floyd)Shots: UK- 7, UF- 18Saves: UK- 8, UF- 2Corner Kicks: UK- 0, UF- 4Fouls: UK- 21, UF- 21
– UK –
