Sept. 3, 2002

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America has ranked the University of Kentucky women’s soccer team at No. 18 in the nation, the organization announced Tuesday. Unranked in the NSCAA Preseason Poll, UK makes its return to the national rankings for the first time since its No. 24 listing by Soccer Buzz and Soccer America on Oct. 8, 2001.

“It’s nice that we are receiving some national recognition, but it will not change the way we approach our matches,” Coach Warren Lipka said. “We are undefeated and ranked – that provides extra motivation for our opponents. We have to answer the challenge on the field and prove that we deserve to be placed among the nation’s top teams.”

UK also found a home at No. 3 in the NSCAA Great Lakes Region Top 10 this week after receiving votes in the preseason. The Cats earned their spot in the top 25 after a 3-1 season-opening win over Indiana on Friday, Aug. 30 and a 1-0 shutout of No. 23 Illinois on Sunday, Sept. 1 at the Nike Tiger Invitational in Columbia, Mo. Freshman goalkeeper Liz Butler, junior defender Amber Wilson, sophomore midfielder Danielle Slupski and junior forward Elizabeth Ramsey were named to the all-tournament team.

Lipka will go for the 125-win milestone Friday when he leads his Wildcats to Provo, Utah, to take on BYU at 9 p.m. ET. The program’s only coach in its 11-year history, Lipka owns an overall record of 124-77-10 (.611) at the helm of the Cats.

NSCAA Top 25 for week of Sept. 2, 2002TeamRecordPrevious Rank1. North Carolina1-0-122. UCLA1-0-053. Texas A&M2-0-074. Stanford1-0-095. Virginia1-0-086. Notre Dame2-0-0177. Nebraska1-0-1128. Connecticut2-0-0109. Michigan2-0-02410. Texas2-0-0NR11. California2-0-02512. Penn State1-0-0613. Clemson1-0-01114. Santa Clara0-1-0115. Washington2-0-01916. Wake Forest2-0-0NR17. Florida State1-0-12018. Kentucky2-0-0NR19. Portland0-2-0220. Dartmouth0-0-01321. Princeton0-0-02322. Tennessee1-1-0NR23. Duke1-1-0NR24. Pepperdine1-0-12225. Cincinnati2-0-015

– UK –