Sept. 9, 1999

LEXINGTON, Kty. – The University of Kentucky women’s soccer team will open the SoutheasternConference portion of its schedule when they will travel to Gainesville,Fla., to take on the 1998 NCAA Champion Florida Gators on Friday, Sept. 10.The match at Percy Beard Stadium will begin at 7 p.m.

UK (1-1-1) is coming off a 5-1 loss at the hands of the 8th-ranked NebraskaCornhuskers on Sept. 5. The Cats picked up their first win of the season onSept. 3 when they defeated Xavier 3-1 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Cats are led by defender Allison Peppers and forward Keri Boyce.Peppers has recorded an assist in each of the last two games, including anassist on the game-winning goal against Xavier. Boyce, a freshman out ofBirdsboro, Pa., leads UK in goals with two and has taken a team-high tenshots.

“Playing Nebraska last week helped us prepare and gave us an idea of how toplay at that level,” UK coach Warren Lipka said. “Hopefully we’ll come outand be ready to play with that level of intensity.”

UF (4-0) is coming off a cross-country trip to California, where the Gatorspicked up a pair of 3-1 victories over Pac-10 foes UCLA and Southern Cal.Sophomore forward Abby Wambach leads the Gator attack with five goals andhas taken 26 shots for UF, which leads the SEC in shots with 103. Lastseason, Wambach recorded a hat-trick by scoring all three UF goals in theGators’ 3-0 triumph over UK in Lexington.

Senior Sarah Yohe is equally dangerous, having scored four goals thisseason to go along with two assists. Yohe has scored 40 goals and recorded24 assists during her UF career.

UK is winless against the Gators in the five previous meetings. UK will return to action on Sunday, Sept. 12, when the Cats travel toColumbia, S.C., to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks at 1 p.m.