Oct. 17, 2002
The University of Kentucky women’s soccer team will look to snap a two-match Southeastern Conference losing skid this weekend when it plays host to Ole Miss on Friday, Oct. 18 in a 7:30 p.m. ET match at the UK Soccer Complex. The Wildcats (7-6-0/2-3-0 SEC) own a perfect 5-0-0 series record over the Rebels (10-2-1/2-2-0 SEC), including a 1-0-0 mark in Lexington.
“This program is not used to losing,” Coach Warren Lipka said. “We have a lot of young players, and we put a lot of undue pressure on ourselves last week. We had a discussion as to what happened last weekend, and we are ready to get back into action against a very good Ole Miss team on Friday.”
After earning the program’s first win over Florida in 11 matches on Oct. 6, the Wildcats suffered league losses on the road to Georgia and 13th-ranked Tennessee last weekend. The four-goal differential in a 5-1 setback to UGA equaled the highest losing margin ever in conference play for UK, while the 2-0 UT victory was the first shutout registered by the Lady Vols over the Cats in series history. Despite the winless road trip, the Cats are only 1.5 games behind first place Tennessee (3-1-0) in the SEC standings.
“If you look at the standings you will see that all the teams are close,” Lipka said. “Everybody is going to fight to get one of the eight spots in the conference tournament.”
Ole Miss’ .808 winning percentage is tied for 24th in the nation, while the National Soccer Coaches Association of America ranks the Rebels at No. 7 this week in its Central Region poll. Redshirt freshman Kelly Renie is making a strong case for SEC Freshman of the Year, as the Carmel, Ind., native’s 31 points (2.38 PPM) and 14 goals (1.08 GPM) rank second in the league through 13 games. Rebel captain Brittany Gillespie is tied for fifth in the SEC with a 1.20 goals against average and her four shutouts is good for second among the conference leaders.
The Cats offensive woes have resulted in a 10th place rank in points (60) and goals (17) in the SEC. Once considered the strength of his club, Lipka has lost four forwards from his offensive arsenal since the preseason. Junior Kim Jedlo left the team for personal reasons in the summer, highly-touted Wake Forest transfer Courtney McCrudden suffered a season-ending ankle injury this preseason that required surgery, and All-SEC and senior co-captain Keri Boyce was lost after five games with a torn ACL.
Most recently, 2001 Soccer Buzz All-Freshman Region Team member Kathy Fulk departed this week due to personal reasons. Fulk, nicknamed the “Attack Kat” after one of the most productive seasons as a freshman in UK history, ends her career after 32 games in a Wildcat uniform. The Columbus, Ohio native, finished second on the team in goals (6), assists (7), points (19) and game-winning goals (2) last season. She was named to the Soccer America Team of the Week for Sept. 3-9, 2001 and tied the UK single-game assist mark of three in a SEC win over Alabama on Oct. 26. Fulk saw action in all 13 matches in 2002, finishing with two assists and eight shots.
UK will play its final conference home match on Sunday, Oct. 20 when it welcomes Mississippi State to the Bluegrass at 2 p.m. ET. MSU has also played one match in Lexington, a 2-0 shutout at the hands of the Wildcats on Oct. 17, 1999. UK is 3-1-0 overall vs. the Bulldogs.
– UK –
