Oct. 23, 2002
The University of Kentucky women’s soccer team will continue Southeastern Conference action this weekend when it travels to Arkansas on Friday, Oct. 25 for an 8 p.m. ET match at Lady ‘Back Field and will finish league play on Sunday, Oct. 27 at LSU.
The Wildcats (8-7-0/3-4-0 SEC) need victories over the Razorbacks (6-11-0/2-4-0 SEC) and Tigers (10-4-1/2-3-1 SEC) to ensure a berth to the SEC Tournament held from Nov. 7-10 in Oxford, Miss.
“They are fighting to get to the conference tournament just as we are,” Coach Warren Lipka said regarding the weekend opposition. “They’ll be prepared and both teams know what’s on the line. (Arkansas head coach) Alan Kirkup is a very good coach and he’ll have his team ready to go Friday night. LSU has shown the ability of putting up big numbers. We have no room for error this weekend.”
At 3-4-0 against conference foes, UK is in jeopardy of being left off the invitation list to the SEC’s postseason tournament for the first time since the league sanctioned a women’s soccer champion in 1993. Only UK and Vanderbilt have participated in every SEC Tournament, and with the Commodores posting a 2-4-1 mark so far in 2002, they too are on the precipice of missing a league-high 10th tournament.
“If you look at the standings you will see that all the teams are close,” Lipka said. “Everybody is going to fight to get into the tournament and every game will be a battle. This is the most important weekend of the season – the entire season comes down to these last two matches.”
Though the match was not an official SEC contest, Arkansas was the first league member to face UK in women’s soccer. The Razorbacks blanked the Cats, 2-0, in St. Louis on Sept. 12, 1992 in the inaugural meeting, but the Cats have put together a four-match win streak over UA. UK leads the series 5-2-0 and is an even 1-1-0 when playing in Fayetteville.
LSU is the only conference opponent that has not earned a victory over Kentucky. Owning a 6-0-0 series lead, the Wildcats are 3-0-0 when visiting Baton Rouge. The Wildcats and Tigers have met twice in the SEC Tournament – 4-0 UK win in Auburn, Ala., on Nov. 2, 1995 and a 2-0 shutout on Nov. 2, 2000 in Athens, Ga. UK has outscored LSU 21-3 in six matches.
The Wildcats snapped a three-match losing streak with a 1-0 shutout over Mississippi State on Sunday, Oct. 20. Junior defender Amber Wilson scored her first goal of the season in the 83rd minute to secure the UK win, while junior co-captain Elizabeth Ramsey continues to lead the Cats in all offensive categories: goals (6), assists (5), points (17), shots (42) and game-winning goals (3). Ramsey will look to add to her 68 career points this weekend as the Hilliard, Ohio, native needs only three to move into a fourth-place tie with Carrie Staber (71 from 1995-98) on UK’s all-time scoring list.
SEC Standings as of Oct. 24Eastern Division SECPct.HADiv.AllPct.Florida 4-2-1.6433-0-11-2-03-2-07-7-2.500Tennessee 3-2-1.5833-1-00-1-11-2-110-5-1.656Georgia 3-3-0.5002-2-01-1-03-1-07-8-1.469South Carolina 3-3-1.5002-2-11-1-02-2-110-5-1.656Kentucky 3-4-0.4293-2-00-2-02-3-08-7-0.533Vanderbilt 2-4-1.3571-2-11-2-02-3-04-8-1.346
Western Division SECPct.HADiv.AllPct.Auburn 5-1-0.8332-0-03-1-04-0-013-3-0.813Ole Miss 3-2-1.5831-1-02-1-12-2-011-2-2.800Alabama 2-3-1.4170-1-12-2-01-2-111-4-1.719LSU 2-3-1.4170-2-02-1-12-2-010-4-1.700Miss. State 2-3-1.4171-1-01-2-11-2-15-10-1.344Arkansas 2-4-0.3331-1-01-3-01-3-06-11-0.353
– UK –
