BLACKSBURG, Va. ? The Kentucky women?s soccer team continued its spring slate this past Saturday, Mar. 25, with two matches versus Atlantic Coast Conference opponents at the ACC/SEC Challenge hosted by Virginia Tech. The Cats faced the host Hokies in the morning and then battled Wake Forest in the afternoon. Vanderbilt was the other representative of the SEC at the event.
After falling down a goal to Tech midway through the first half, Kentucky battled back to equalize with five minutes remaining in the opening stanza. Sophomore Ashley Menick took on two defenders and was taken down in the penalty box. Freshman Nicola Holdsworth stepped up to take the spot kick for the Cats and beat the Tech keeper to tie the score at 1-1. UK pressed in the second half for the go-ahead goal and had several scoring opportunities, but it was the Hokies who found the winner after a UK miscue with 10 minutes remaining in the match. The goal stood up for Tech as they took the opener 2-1. Junior Anne Ogundele and freshman Cheryl Gilligan split time in net for the Cats, each conceding a goal.
UK took to the pitch again in the afternoon, this time facing Wake Forest, an NCAA tournament qualifier last fall. The first half was a stalemate as Wake had the better part of possession, and Kentucky attempted to counterattack. The second half was similar. However, UK?s defensive pressure began to wear on the Demon Deacons. The Cats were able to possess the ball better themselves and eventually broke through with 16 minutes remaining in the match when Holdsworth struck again for the Big Blue. After controlling a Menick pass in traffic at the top of the box, the midfielder out of Dayton, Ohio, broke through two Wake defenders and chipped the Deacon keeper for the 1-0 UK lead. Wake attempted to push players forward to find the equalizer, but UK?s team defense proved to be too difficult to crack for a quality chance. Freshmen Tara Herold, Kate Hughes, Kristin Kover, Laura Speer, and sophomore Caitlin Coughlin were the backline defenders for the Cats in the effort. Ogundele went the distance in goal, earning the shutout victory.
?This was our first outdoor, full-sided competition of the spring and I thought it proved to be a valuable experience for our developing team,? said head coach Warren Lipka. ?It is important for us to continue to play these tough opponents for our players to learn. I think a primary lesson today was that a couple miscues will cost you against good teams, and that if we eliminate those, we can win against top competition. In our players? defense, we have not worked on a whole lot of what was going wrong. All in all, I thought our team worked hard and our fitness again proved to be an asset. These matches were very good in helping us identify what our top objectives need to be for the remainder of the spring.?
Kentucky goes to 9-1-1 this spring with the next play date scheduled for Wednesday, April 12th. The Cats will take on the Lexington Futbol Club?s under 15 boys select team at the UK Soccer Complex. Kickoff is set for 7:30pm and admission is free and open to the public.
