Sept. 6, 2002
PROVO, Utah — Elizabeth Ramsey scored twice to lead the 18th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s soccer team to a 2-0 shutout of No. 24 BYU in front of 825 in attendance at South Field Friday night. The victory over the Cougars (1-2-0) was the 125th career victory for Coach Warren Lipka and the second-straight shutout for the Wildcats (3-0-0).
“I’m just happy that we’re able to win and beat two top-25 teams in a week,” Lipka said. “Our coaches have done a tremendous job in preparing our team to be successful and as a result, our student-athletes are performing at a very high level. We’ve got to get ready for Utah on Sunday and try to use this momentum we’ve built to our advantage.”
The Cats took an early lead on the Cougars when Elizabeth Ramsey deflected a header off a BYU defender that slipped past goalkeeper Amanda Gott to the bottom right of the net from seven yards out. It was the first goal scored by UK in the first period of play this season and Ramsey’s second in as many games.
BYU mounted an attack with eight minutes left in the first half as All-America midfielder Aleisha Cramer Rose fed a racing Kelly Hunsberger down the right flank. Hunsberger blasted a shot to the goal but UK goalkeeper Liz Butler thwarted the scoring threat with a diving save to her left that knocked the ball safely out of bounds. Butler again showed her netminding prowess when the Overland Park, Kan., native slapped away a Twink Krainik shot that was on a dangerous path to the UK goal with less than four minutes to play before the half. At the end of 45 minutes, the shots were even at four apiece as UK held a tenuous 1-0 lead.
Eleven minutes into the second period, Ramsey provided the insurance goal the Cats desperately desired. The junior midfielder was tackled inside the BYU box that resulted in UK’s first penalty kick opportunity of the season at 56:43. The UK co-captain’s shot darted out of the reach of Gott’s high-left side and kissed the upper net to give the Cats a 2-0 lead it would not relinquish.
Ramsey, a second-team All-Southeastern Conference forward and the team’s MVP as a sophomore in 2000, has scored the Cats’ last three goals. In a 1-0 shutout of No. 23 Illinois last Sunday in the Nike Tiger Invitational, Ramsey recorded the game-winner with under five minutes to play.
“Elizabeth Ramsey is an All-America candidate,” Lipka said. “Her work rate, her composure on the ball and her ability to finish in tight situations make her a special player. But everyone else is doing their job as well – we’re playing very well as a team right now and I hope we continue to do that.”
Butler, voted to the Nike Tiger Invitational All-Tournament team last week, collected five saves tonight and has recorded back-to-back shutouts against top-25 opponents.
“Liz has been playing outstanding since she’s taken over the starting role,” Likpa said. “Big save after big save and our back four has played great in front of her. You’re expected to make a big save when you’re a goalkeeper and when she does, she lifts the entire team up.”
Lipka, 37, earned his first collegiate coaching win on Sept. 5, 1992 when he led the Wildcats to a 5-2 OT victory over Wis.-Milwaukee in the first game of the program’s 11-year history. The two-time SEC Coach of the Year (1995, 99) now owns an overall record of 125-77-10.
UK will next be in action on Sunday, Sept. 8 when it faces No. 23 Utah in Salt Lake City in a 2 p.m. ET match at Ute Field. The Cats own a 1-0-0 series lead over the Utes, winning 3-0 in 2001 at UK.
UK 1 1 2BYU 0 0 0
Scoring: Ramsey, UK (unassisted), 15:05; Ramsey, UK (unassisted – penalty kick)Shots: UK 11, BYU 12Saves: UK 5, BYU 6Corner Kicks: UK 5, BYU 2Fouls: UK 22, BYU 16
– UK –
