Nov. 14, 1999

LEXINGTON, Kty. – The 13th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s soccer team fell 3-2 inovertime to No. 11 Texas A&M in the second round of the 1999 NCAATournament Sunday afternoon at the UK Soccer Complex.

UK (16-3-2), seeking its first NCAA Tournament victory, held leads of 1-0and 2-1 before falling to the Aggies. Sophomore forward Annie Gage had agoal and an assist for the Cats who lost for the first time since Sept. 10when UK lost to Florida 2-1.

The Cats struck first when Gage converted on a penalty kick at the 25:13.A&M defender Amber Reynolds was called for a handball directly in front ofAggie goalkeeper Melanie Wilson and UK was awarded the PK.

For the next forty minutes, UK held a 1-0 advantage before Nicky Thrashergot A&M on the board at the 65:45 mark. From 35 yards out, Thrasher fired ashot over the outstretched-arms of UK goalkeeper Jo Fletcher and high intothe upper right-hand corner of the net, tying the score at 1-1.

Freshman Christal Mattingly gave UK a 2-1 lead when she fired a header inoff Gage’s corner kick at the 78:30 mark. Mattingly’s shot hit justunderneath the crossbar and went straight down but bounced over the line asa flurry of A&M defenders tried to knock it away.

Texas A&M (17-4-1) tied the game when the Aggies were awarded a penaltykick after UK defender Emily Oetjen was called for a foul inside the Cats’box when she tripped Heather Ragsdale. Heather Wiebe, taking the A&Mpenalty kick, fired a shot to the left corner of the goal that Fletcher wasunable to get to, tying the game at 2-2.

Thrasher was the hero in overtime for the Aggies when she fired a 20-yardshot high over Fletcher’s hands, advancing A&M into the Sweet Sixteen ofthe NCAA Tournament.

“It’s almost fitting to have that kind of competition and it end inovertime,” UK coach Warren Lipka said. “Both teams could have won it at anypoint, but once it gets past overtime, the game is up for grabs. My hat’soff to Texas A&M because they fought back twice and to win it in overtimeis a great effort. It is disappointing, but we had a great season and wehave a lot to look forward to in the future.”

A&M outshot the Cats nine to six and out-cornered UK five to one. Wilsonrecorded two saves for the Aggies, while Fletcher posted three saves forthe Cats.

            1   2  1OT     FTexas A&M   0   2   1      3UK          1   1   0      2

Attendance: 737
Scoring – Gage, UK (penalty kick), 25:13, Thrasher, A&M (Fendley), 65:45,Mattingly, UK (Gage), 78:30, Wiebe, A&M (penalty kick) 83:52, Thrasher, A&M(Davidson), 93:16
Shots – A&M: 9, UK: 6
Corner Kicks – A&M: 5, UK: 1
Goalkeeper Saves – A&M: 2, UK: 3
Fouls – A&M: 13, UK: 11