Oct. 20, 2002
Amber Wilson’s shot from 25 yards out found the back of the net late in the second half to lift the University of Kentucky women’s soccer team to a 1-0 shutout over Mississippi State in sloppy field conditions at the UK Soccer Complex Sunday. With the victory, the Wildcats (8-7-0/3-4-0 Southeastern Conference) snapped a three-match losing streak and improved their series lead to 4-1-0 over the Bulldogs (5-10-1/2-3-1 SEC).
“I think we would have had a better result if the field conditions were not as they were,” Coach Warren Lipka said. “We played a solid 90-minute game – right from the whistle to the last second. Every win is important because we have no room for error. We have to be aggressive and must maintain the go-to attitude we displayed today to get into postseason play.”
It looked as if the Cats were going to take an early lead on the Dogs when Elizabeth Ramsey executed a perfect pass at the top of the box to a streaking Danielle Slupski’s along the left flank. MSU goalkeeper Krystal Werges came out to challenge Ramsey and Slupkski blast from nine yards out ricocheted off the left post to keep the match scoreless through 20 minutes of play. Though outshooting the Dogs 9-2, both clubs entered the locker room scoreless at the half.
Kentucky played with a sense of urgency in the second period, a half it dominated by blasting 11 shots in comparison to Mississippi State’s three. For the game, UK outshot MSU 20-5 as Ramsey attempted a match-high six shots with Wilson and Jen Wilkinson contributing four apiece.
Wilson finally broke a 261-minute scoreless drought for the Cats when the junior defender netted her first goal of the season at 82:30. Heather Saas generated the game-winner, passing the ball to Slupski who gave it up to an open Wilson just outside the arc. The West Chester, Ohio, native rocketed a shot toward the MSU net that found a home to the top-right out of the reach of a diving Werges.
“I knew it was going to come so I just kept shooting and finally one went in,” a jubilant Wilson said. “We had a lot of chances and we were able to finally capitalize. This is a huge win for our team.”
The Wildcats return to action on Friday, Oct. 25 when they travel to Arkansas for an 8 p.m. ET match with the Razorbacks. UK wraps up SEC play on Sunday, Oct. 27 at LSU.
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Scoring: Wilson, UK (Saas, Slupski), 82:30Shots: MSU 5, UK 20Saves: MSU 12, UK 3Corner Kicks: MSU 0, UK 5Fouls: MSU 9, UK 15Attendance: 875
– UK –
