Kentucky Celebrates Katy Keen, Kelly Novak on Senior Day
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s soccer team celebrated the careers of Katy Keen and Kelly Novak on Sunday afternoon in the team’s annual Senior Day at the Bell Soccer Complex in front of 1,190 Big Blue fans.
Yuuka Kurosaki scored what might be UK’s best goal of the season to level the match in the 27th minute as Keen served in a perfect ball off a set piece from 40 yards out and Kurosaki was there to smash it home into the upper-inside netting to make it 1-1.
Foster Ignoffo pulled another goal back for Kentucky in the 69th minute after dribbling the ball back across the face of goal and finishing it into the far post after the ball went wide first before the service.
Kentucky will next take to the field on Thursday night at 6 p.m. ET against the No. 6 Florida Gators. The match will air live on the SEC Network+, ESPN3 and the ESPN app.
The season home finale will be on Sunday, Oct. 22 against Arkansas. Kentucky is still currently holding on to the final spot at the 2017 Southeastern Conference Soccer Tournament in Orange Beach, sitting on six points in the table. UK’s final three league matches are against No. 6 Florida, Arkansas and at Georgia on the last match day.
A mainstay along the back line during her four years in Lexington, Kelly Novak will exit Kentucky top-10 all-time in career minutes played with over 5,000. She is the only remaining player on the team that was a member Kentucky’s 2014 team that went to the NCAA Sweet 16 – the best season in program history. Her history has been one of toughness – as she has played in, and started in 74 games at UK, including a team-high 57 matches in a row. She scored her only-career goal in her sophomore season against the Ohio Bobcats, and has two-career assists – both coming in 2016. A member of the SEC Honor Roll – Novak will graduate in May with a degree in Exercise Science.
Katy Keen has played the most minutes of any Kentucky player this season, with over 1,300 this season. After transferring in during her sophomore season, Katy made a dramatic impact on the Wildcats in her first season, scoring six goals and assisting on six more. A native of Zionsville, Indiana, Katy has started 96 percent of the games that she has played in for Kentucky – including 15 in a row. She has launched 21 shots on goal, accounted for 18 points, and is responsible for two game-winning goals in her time in Lexington. Katy will graduate in May with a degree in communications.
Loyola-Chicago won the match, 5-2 with goals from Taylor Lambouris, Aleksa Tatatyn, two from Katie Grall and one from Avalon Senn-Raemont.
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.
