Nov. 8, 2002
OXFORD, Miss. — The No. 6 seed University of Kentucky women’s soccer team dropped its semifinal match to No. 2 seed Tennessee, 1-0, in overtime in the Southeastern Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium Friday night.
The setback to the Lady Vols (15-5-1) send the Wildcats to 11-8-0 overall and will await the announcement of the NCAA Tournament bracket on Monday to see if their seasons will continue.
“It was another hard-fought battle,” Coach Warren Lipka said. “We had a couple good chances to win in regulation. I thought Liz Butler played outstanding and it took an unbelievable shot to win the game and that’s what it was.”
The Lady Vols created the first serious scoring opportunity when Rhian Wilkinson gained possession, maneuvered between the UK defense and fired a shot which UK goalkeeper Liz Butler swatted away with a diving save with 31:07 showing of the first-half clock.
UK kept a steady attack on the Lady Vol defense throughout the first half and it looked as if the Cats would take an early lead on a Kathryn Grandinetti 18-yard blast, but the freshman forward’s shot ricocheted off the right crossbar-post corner. UT edged UK, 4-3, in shots while both sides attempted one corner kick en route to a scoreless 45 minutes of play.
The match appeared to be over four minutes into the first overtime when Sue Flamini’s laser from 24 yards out smacked the crossbar above Butler and came straight down into the keeper’s hands. However, the Lady Vols dented the net at 94:59 when Lyndsey Patterson scored on the right side from 15 yards out to the upper right of the UK goal.
In the overall series, UK and UT have played in overtime once. After three scoreless periods, Kim Patrick scored in double-overtime to give the Lady Vols their first win, 1-0, in Lexington on Oct. 14, 2001.
Scoring: Patterson, UT (Lockaby), 94:49Shots: UK 6, UT 17Saves: UK 5, UT 1Corner Kicks: UK 1, UT 7Fouls: UK 8, UT 15Attendance: 224
– UK –
