Sept. 8, 2001
No. 23 KENTUCKY WILDCATS (3-0-0/1-0-0 SEC)VS.MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS (2-0-1/0-0-0 BIG 10)OLD COLLEGE FIELD, EAST LANSING, MICH.SUNDAY, SEPT. 9, 2001
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU: Today is UK Coach Warren Lipka’s 37th birthday. Thirty-seven years ago today, Lipka was born in St. Louis, Mo. Junior midfielder Christal Mattingly, a Bardstown, Ky. native, lit the candles on Friday, Sept. 7, as she celebrated her 20th birthday. The Cats presented Mattingly her gift in the form of a 2-1 comeback win over the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Mich.
WHAT A START!: With the 2-1 victory over the Wolverines on Friday, Kentucky is off to its best start in its 10-year history at 3-0. UK defeated Marshall, 2-1, in its season opener on Friday, Aug. 31, and blanked Vanderbilt, 1-0, last Sunday, Sept. 2. The previous best start for the Wildcats was 2-0 in 1992, 1994, 1996, and 2000.
SO NICE, LET’S DO IT TWICE: Kentucky and Vanderbilt went scoreless until the 83:00 mark when senior midfielder Annie Gage sent in a corner kick and sophomore Alli Haeussler dented the net for the game-winning goal. In their next match, the Wildcats used the same one-two punch as Gage sent in a kick from the corner and Haeussler sent the ball past U-M goalkeeper Bre Bennett to seal the win for UK at the 55:45 mark.
GET TO THE POINT: Senior defender Melinda Buemi garnered her first point in two seasons in the Michigan victory as she assisted on Kathy Fulk’s game-tying goal at the 43:45 mark. Buemi, a stalwart defensive star the past three seasons for the Wildcats, was named to the 2000 SEC Academic Honor Roll and has started in every game she has played in at UK: 1998- 21/21, 1999- 19/19, 2000- 20/20, and 2001- 2/2.
LIPKA OVERALL: Warren Lipka brings a 113-69-9 (.615) overall record into today’s match. Celebrating his tenth season at the helm of the Wildcats, he holds a 61-30-3 (.665) home record, 45-35-5 (.559) road record, and a 7-4-1 (.625) record on neutral fields. Against Big Ten foes, Lipka holds an overall mark of 10-12-2 (.458).
BATTING .500: UK evened the series with Michigan, 2-2-1, with Friday’s 2-1 win. The Cats will have the chance to balance the numbers with the Spartans this afternoon, as MSU owns a 1-0-1 series record over Kentucky.
THE “ATTACK KAT”: Freshman phenom Kathy Fulk, UK’s “Attack Kat,” found the net again at the most opportune time. Looking to go scoreless in the first half for the third consecutive game, “Attack Kat” rocketed a shot past U-M’s Bennett on a pass from Buemi at the 43:45 mark to tie the game, 1-1, at the half. Fulk put the ball in the net first in a 3-0 exhibition win vs. Wright State (8/25) and netted the game winner in UK’s season-opening 2-1 victory over Marshall (8/31).
