FT. WAYNE, Ind. ? Northwestern tallied two first-half goals and held off a late Kentucky rally to hand UK a 3-1 loss Saturday evening at the IPFW/adidas Soccer Showcase at the Hefner Soccer Fields. Kentucky ends its exhibition season winless after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Indiana in the opening night of the Showcase.

Several first-half scoring opportunities arose for Kentucky, though the Cats failed to capitalize. Freshman Ashley Menick struck the crossbar in the 12th minute, and her line drive two minutes later was saved by the Northwestern goalkeeper. Junior Alli Haeussler added a 35th-minute shot that sailed wide of the goal. Meanwhile, Northwestern dented the net in the fifth minute and late in the first half for a 2-0 halftime lead.

After three Kentucky second-half scoring chances came up empty, Haeussler found the net in the 86th minute with a 12-yard line drive to the left of the Wildcat goalkeeper. However, NU added an insurance goal two minutes later for the final 3-1 margin.

Kentucky officially kicks off its 13th season of women?s soccer on Friday, Aug. 27 against No. 20 West Virginia in the opening round of the Kentucky Invitational.