Sept. 5, 2008
Chapel Hill, N.C. – Amid second half showers from Tropical Storm Hanna, the UK women’s soccer team (1-2-0) was unable to slow the Duke offensive attack, dropping a 3-1 match to the ninth ranked Blue Devils (4-0-0).
Duke overpowered the Wildcats offensively in the first half en route to a 2-0 lead. The Wildcats answered the bell in the second 45 minutes, cutting the lead in half, before surrendering a penalty kick for the final 3-1 margin.
The Blue Devils took a 1-0 lead just over eight minutes into the match when Kelly McCann sent a ball down into the far right corner in the Kentucky zone. Marybeth Kreger tracked the ball down and centered the ball just in front of the UK goal where KayAnne Gummersall deflected it in for the early Duke lead.
The Blue Devils struck again in the 28th minute when Elisabeth Redmond tallied her fourth goal of the season, a shot that snuck in the upper left 90 of the goal.
The Cats cut the lead in half nearly five minutes into the second frame when Jenna Goblirsch netted her first collegiate goal. Julie Hull took a pass from Laura Novikoff and gave it off to Goblirsch, who dribbled to the top of the 18-yard box and pushed it to the right of Duke goalie Sonja Sahlsten.
Redmond put the Blue Devils up 3-1 in the 62nd minute on a converted penalty kick. Duke was challenging for a ball in the box, but UK’s Katie Fahey was whistled for a foul resulting in the penalty kick.
Nicola Holdsworth and Kristin Kover paced the Cats with two shots each, while Sydney Hiance, Tara Herold, Katie Fahey and Ashley Stack all played the full 90 minutes.
The Wildcats close competition in the Carolina Nike Classic on Sunday against host school and second ranked North Carolina at 3:00 p.m. Fans can follow all the action on UKathletics.com.