Women’s soccer gears up for its fourth NCAA apperance on Sunday.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 13, 1999) — The 13th-ranked Universityof Kentucky women’s soccer team will play host toNo. 11 Texas A&M on Sunday, Nov. 14, at 1p.m. in the second round of the 1999 NCAATournament.
UK (16-2-2) is making its fourth appearance in theNCAA Tournament since the program began in1992. The Cats, who own a 16-game unbeatenstreak coming into Sunday’s showdown with theAggies, are 0-3 in three previous NCAATournament appearances with all three lossescoming in the first round.
The Cats tied Georgia 1-1 in the first-round of theSEC Tournament on Nov. 4, but the Bulldogsadvanced 2-1 on sudden death penalty kicks aftertwo scoreless overtime periods.
“We have worked very hard to get to this point andthis is what it is all about,” UK coach Warren Lipkasaid. “Texas A&M is one of the top teams in thenation, and it is very important that we dictate thetemp early in the match. If we can get an early goalon them, it will help our confidence grow as thematch progresses.”
Texas A&M (16-4-1) is led by junior forwardNicky Thrasher, who has scored 19 goals, includingsix game-winners, and tallied 10 assists for theAggies this season, both team-highs. The El Paso,Texas, native has also recorded a team-high 126shots. Thrasher led the Big 12 Conference this yearin goals, points, and shots.
Senior goalkeeper Melanie Wilson has a goals-against average of 0.58,while posting eight shutouts this season. During Wilson’s four-year career inCollege Station, Texas A&M is 63-2 when the Aggies score more than onegoal when she starts in goal. The Aggies are also 104-5-1 in school historywhen they score more than one goal.
UK and A&M have two common opponents this season, Vanderbilt andNebraska. The Cats defeated Vanderbilt 5-2 in Nashville on Oct. 10, whileUK fell to Nebraska 5-1 on Sept. 5 in Lexington. The Aggies defeated theCommodores 5-1 on Sept. 19 in the adidas College Classic. Nebraskaclipped A&M 1-0 in College Station on Oct. 1.
Tickets are available at the UK Soccer Complex. Admission is $5 for seniorcitizens (65), children under 12, and college students with an ID. Adulttickets are $7.
The winner of the UK-Texas A&M match will advance to the third round ofthe NCAA Tournament to face the winner of the Nebraska-Minnesotamatch next weekend.
