Aug. 21, 2002
Cat Scratches
The University of Kentucky women’s soccer team will begin the 2002 schedule when it competes in two exhibition matches this weekend at the IPFW/adidas Soccer Showcase in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Wildcats will open play with Purdue on Friday, Aug. 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET and will face preseason No. 7 Notre Dame on Sunday, Aug. 25 at noon ET.
“It’s a great opportunity for our team to be playing against the high level of competition that we’ll face this weekend,” Coach Warren Lipka said. “Purdue is an experienced team out of the Big Ten and Notre Dame is one of the top clubs in the nation. Both games will be excellent tests for our team and we’re excited to get on the field.”
The Wildcats and Boilermakers have not met in the regular season but last tangled on the pitch in an exhibition match on Aug. 20, 2000 at the UK Soccer Complex. Annie Gage, UK’s co-all-time leading scorer (107 points from 1997-01) and now an assistant coach for UK, scored the game’s first two goals, while current Cats Danielle Slupski and Lauren Russell also dented the net in a 4-0 preseason shutout. Notre Dame, ranked seventh nationally this week by Soccer Buzz, owns a 1-0-0 series lead over UK as the Fighting Irish defeated the Wildcats, 9-0, in South Bend, Ind., on Oct. 14, 1992.
Lipka begins his 11th season in the Bluegrass since being named the program’s first head coach in 1992. The two-time Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year (1995, 99) has compiled a 122-77-10 (.608) record at UK, including a 12-8-1 season in 2001 that saw the Cats reach the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years.
UK officially begins the 2002 campaign at the Missouri Nike Challenge in Columbia, Mo., when it faces traditional rival Indiana on Friday, Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. ET. The home opener, vs. Michigan State on Friday, Sept. 13, will be the 100th home game in UK women’s soccer history.
– UK –
