Kentucky Heads West to Face Undefeated Louisville on Friday Night
LEXINGTON, Kentucky – The University of
Kentucky women’s soccer team will travel west to play the annual “Battle of the
Bluegrass” on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET inside Lynn Stadium in the Derby
City to kick off week three of the NCAA women’s soccer season.
The match will be shown live on ESPN3.com and
the ACC Digital Network with coverage starting at kickoff in addition to the
WatchESPN app. Live stats will be available on GoCards.com in addition to
UKathletics.com.
The Wildcats will enter the third weekend of
the season at 0-2-1 after Sunday’s match with Northwestern was cancelled due to
weather in the Lexington area that forced the match to be called at halftime
with the score 0-0. Gina Crosetti and Marissa Bosco, both freshman, scored
goals in the first half against No. 23 South Florida last weekend, but a goal
back in the first half and two in the second gave the Bulls a 3-2
come-from-behind win over UK in the 2016 home opener.
Louisville is off to a flying start in 2016
with a 3-0-1 record and three clean sheets to show for. The Cards are coming
off of an 8-8-2 season under 17th-year head coach Karen Ferguson- Dayes. UL defeated
Toledo, 4-0 in its last outing on the pitch, which was proceeded by two more
4-0 thumpings to UAB and Toledo. The leading goal scorer for U of L is
Gabrielle Vincent who has three goals and an assist on the young 2016 season,
one of seven Cards who have scored this season. Goalkeeper Taylor Bucklin has started
all four matches and has a GAA of 0.26 with five saves on the young season.
This weekend’s matchup marks the 15th all-time
meeting between UK and U of L in the annual “Battle of the Bluegrass”. The
rivalry match resumed in 2006 after a 10-year absence from 1996-2005, where the
teams did not play each other. Kentucky has an 11-2-1 lead in the series, having
won each of the last five meetings, with the last four all coming as shutout
wins over U of L. The last time UK played at Lynn Stadium, Michaela Dooley had
the game-winning goal in the 82nd minute off a header to give UK a 2-0 win
after an insurance goal. In 2015, Katy Keen’s second half goal at The Bell
Soccer Complex gave Kentucky a 1-0 win.
The Wildcats will play High Point on Sunday at
4 p.m. ET at the Bell Soccer Complex. The match will be live on the SEC
Network+, ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s soccer team, follow @UKWomensSoccer on Twitter,
Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
