Aug. 30, 2002
COLUMBIA, Mo. — A red card given to Indiana’s Kristin Limburg at 64:29 prompted three unanswered goals by the University of Kentucky women’s soccer team as the Wildcats (1-0-0) cruised to a 3-1 win over the Hoosiers (0-1-0) at the Nike Tiger Invitational. Freshman Kathryn Grandinetti collected a goal and an assist, while junior Heather Saas provided two helpers to lead UK to its season-opening victory.
“The goal after the red card really turned the tide for us,” Coach Warren Lipka said. “That puts them a player down the rest of the way and our girls came through when it counted. We played a lot of players tonight and we’ll continue to do that – it was a total team effort and I’m pleased with our performance.”
Period one ended evenly with both sides attempting seven shots and one corner kick. Daugherty recorded four saves for IU, while Liz Butler saved three Hoosier shots from entering the UK goal. Indiana ended the scoring drought at 60:30 when Shelly Gruszka charged hard down the left flank and was able to maneuver swiftly around the UK defense. The junior midfielder worked the ball to Kristen Sprunger who was in position to beat Butler to the lower right of the net.
The Wildcats gained a valuable advantage on the ensuing play when Kristin Limburg was whistled for a red card on a hard tackle, which forced the Hoosiers to play with a player down for the remainder of the match. UK provided the equalizer when Kathy Fulk assisted Lauren Russell off a free kick to even it up at 1-1.
Six minutes later, the Cats again benefited from playing one-up on the Hoosiers as Kara McCue kicked in the game-winner past Daugherty from nine yards out. Kathryn Grandinetti and Heather Saas combined for the assists, giving Grandinetti her first career helper and Saas’ first since 2000. Grandinetti delivered the knockout punch when she netted her first collegiate goal from Saas at 73:33 to end the scoring.
“Heather (Saas) had a great cross and I knew it was going in before it went in the net,” a jubilant McCue said on her game-winner. “This win is important for us – we needed to come out and play hard to set the tone for the season.”
Tonight’s match in Columbia saw five Wildcats earn their first career starts: goalkeeper Liz Butler, defender Courtney Pollock, defender Ashley Janning, midfielder Jen Weakley and sophomore Erin Witchey. Butler displayed the presence of a well-seasoned netminder as the Overland Park, Kan., native made several key saves throughout the match.
“We needed this win coming off a rough preseason,” Saas said. “Kara (McCue) and Kathryn (Grandinetti) were in the right places and I was able to get the ball to them.” Saas gave credit to extra practice time with Grandinetti during two-a-days for the tandem’s success. “I think there is a connection between us because we’ve been practicing together all the time – the two of us working on our technique. It was nice to have it all come together.”
UK continues play in the Nike Tiger Invitational on Sunday, Sept. 1 when it faces No. 23 Illinois at 6 p.m. ET.
1 2 FUK 0 3 3IU 0 1 1
Goals: Sprunger, IU (Gruszka), 60:30; Russell, UK (Fulk), 64:32;McCue, UK (Grandinetti, Saas), 70:17; Grandinetti, UK (Saas), 73:33Shots: UK 15, IU 12Saves: UK 6, IU 5Corner Kicks: UK 7, IU 4Fouls: UK 12, IU 13
– UK –
