Oct. 26, 2008
Oxford, Miss. – An SEC streak came to an end Sunday, as the UK women’s soccer team (4-12-2, 2-7-1 SEC) was officially eliminated from SEC Tournament contention with a 3-1 loss at Ole Miss (6-9-3, 4-5-1).
After the reaching the league’s post season tournament every year since its inception in 1993, the Wildcats will be absent from this year’s event, ending its SEC record tournament appearances at 15.
“This was a typical day for our season,” said UK head coach Warren Lipka. “We came out well defensively, but then we didn’t take care of the ball in the second half. We have to be more accountable for ourselves and make sure this never, ever happens again to program.”
After a scoreless first half, the Rebels came out firing in the second half taking the kickoff and attempting a shot from long range 13 seconds into the half. Ole Miss then connected on a shot 20 seconds later when Amy Bayles beat the Wildcat defense and then put a shot past charging UK goalie Laura Burton for the 1-0 Ole Miss lead.
The Rebels made it a 2-0 affair in the 53rd minute on Bayles’ second goal of the match. Bayles controlled the ball in the upper right corner of the 18-yard box and ripped a shot past a diving Burton inside the far left post.
The Wildcats cut the lead in half in the 70th minute off a perfectly executed corner kick by Tara Herold. Herold sent the kick to the far back post where Kate Hughes was there for the header, her third goal of the season.
Ole Miss shut the door with 6:51 left in the match, on Taylor Cunningham’s fifth goal of the season for the final 3-1 margin.
Kentucky was unable to find the offensive prowess it had Thursday night when they outshot the Mississippi State Bulldogs 31-5, including 15 shots on goal. Instead, the Cats were on the receiving end, being outshot by the Rebels 19-3.
Burton recorded a season high seven saves in the loss.
Kentucky closes out the regular season on Friday, honoring seniors Tara Herold, Nicola Holdsworth, Kate Hughes and Kristin Kover on Senior Night against Vanderbilt.
