Oct. 18, 2013
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 23 University of Kentucky women’s soccer team suffered just its second loss in its last 11 matches on Friday night, as the No. 8 Florida Gators defeated Kentucky, 3-0 at James G. Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.
“Obviously we are not happy with our performance at all today,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said. “But, lets give credit there to Florida. They came out and played with absolute class and played a great game. They out-attacked us, they out-defended us, their transition was better than us and there really wasn’t an area of the game where they didn’t dominate us.”
The Gators scored the game-opening goal in the seventh minute as sophomore Lauren Smith scored the first of two goals on the night for her. Smith received the ball from the midfield, and turned and fired a shot past a diving Kayla King into the right side netting. The goal was Smith’s second of the season.
When the Gators scored in the seventh minute, it was just the second time all season (Arkansas, Sept. 27) that Kentucky failed to score the first goal in a match. That match three weeks ago also marked the last time Kentucky trailed in a match, a streak that spanned over four matches.
In the 42nd minute, the Gators took the 2-0 lead as Liz Slattery, a freshman from Cincinnati, Ohio, scored on a bullet from just outside the top of the box. The ball came in to Slattery who found a scheme off a re-fire and nailed it past King for her second goal of the season.
After the halftime break, the Gators would add a third goal courtesy of Smith, who scored her second goal of the night and third goal of the season in the 56th minute. Smith was about 20 yards out and flung a shot that beat King.
King had a sequence of great saves on Savannah Jordan in the 74th minute, as Jordan had King 1v1 from the top of the box, and King sent away her initial shot, and then it hit the right post. After it hit the post, Jordan collected the rebound and had another 1v1 with King inside the six-yard box, and King shoved aside the rebound to prevent another scoring chance for UF.
Two Wildcats got their first-career Southeastern Conference playing time on Friday night, as freshman goalkeeper Ayanna Parker was subbed in late in the second half, along with Orange County, Calif., native, Karli Ladwig.
“Obviously we are very unhappy with our play, but we will learn from it,” Lipsitz said. “I can also guarantee you that we will get better from it. We thank Florida for the lesson tonight, so lets give them credit for that. They played extremely well tonight.”
Kentucky is back in action on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. ET in Tuscaloosa, Ala., as the Wildcats will take on the Alabama Crimson Tide at the Alabama Soccer Complex.
For continuing coverage of UK women’s soccer, log on to UKathletics.com.
