BOULDER, CO ? The Kentucky defense, the team?s staple all season, was unable to contain the high-powered Denver Pioneer offense as the UK women?s soccer team (14-7-3) had their season ended with a 2-0 loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
After playing to a scoreless first half, Denver tallied two early goals in the second half to end UK?s seven-match unbeaten streak.
The Wildcats had their first opportunity to take an early lead in the eighth minute of the match when Nicola Holdsworth fired a shot on goal from 18 yards out but Denver goalie Dani Wiley made a diving save to her right. Kentucky followed with a corner kick minutes later with Giuleana Lopez sending the kick in front of the goal where Kelsey Fenix got a solid head on the ball once again forcing Wiley to make a diving save to preserve the scoreless affair.
Denver threatened to take the lead in the 29th minute on a shot from six yards out but the ball missed, rolling inches to the right of the post.
Despite the shots on goal being fairly even through the first 45 minutes, the Denver Pioneers controlled the ball, keeping the attack in the Kentucky zone for nearly two-thirds of the half and finished the half out shooting the Cats 9-3.
Denver finally broke through in the 47th minute taking advantage of congestion in front of the Wildcat goal. Dana Schonberger was able to find daylight and poke a ball through to Jenna Billingsley who finished the play with her 16th goal of the season and a 1-0 Pioneer lead.
The Pioneers added a second goal at the 51:59 mark when Lleane Grimditch beat UK keeper Anne Ogundele to a loose ball and rolled it over the end line for her 10th score of the season and a 2-0 Denver lead.
?I want to congratulate Denver on their game and how well they played and moving on to the second round on Sunday,? said head coach Warren Lipka. ?I?m sorry we didn?t give them the game that I think we were capable of giving them for whatever reason; maybe it was the tons of travel at the end of the year and coming out here and it just all built up. I don?t think that was the Kentucky women?s soccer team that won the SEC Tournament championship and was the second seed. Maybe it all just caught up to them.?
Kentucky closed out a magical run through the second half of the season that saw the team improve its position from ninth in the league to second over the final two weeks before claiming the 2006 SEC Tournament championship. The team finished with 14 wins, the most for the program since the 2000 squad recorded 15 victories. The Wildcats have a lot to look forward to in the 2007 campaign as they return 10 starters from this year?s squad.
?This is a young team that has a lot to be proud of and I think we need to build on this,? said Lipka. ?This was a great experience for them; we get all our starters back except for (senior All-SEC goalie) Anne (Ogundele) who had a great career here. They have a ton to be proud of, a ton to build on. We?re happy that Kentucky soccer is back on the map.?
