Within the coaching fraternity, there is a common notion that your second year as a head coach is really your first true year. From a coach’s perspective, taking over a new program isn’t easy. The first year is usually an acclimation process filled with pieces the new coach didn’t put in place and isn’t familiar with. The second year – generally the first time a coach has his or her pieces in place – is when the true rebuilding project begins, and the third year is when things are supposed to take off.If that thinking holds true, the Kentucky women’s soccer program could be primed for big things in 2011.As head coach Jon Lipsitz enters his third year as head coach of the women’s soccer program, that trend appears to be taking place. In fact, it may be well ahead of schedule. One year after making the Southeastern Conference Tournament for the first time since 2007, the Wildcats are expected to move up in the conference and compete for an NCAA Tournament berth.  The reason is offense.If you remember back to two years ago, the thought of UK making the NCAA Tournament on the shoulders of its offense seemed preposterous. Two seasons ago, in Lipsitz’s first year as head coach, the Cats managed a measly 11 goals. Only once did UK score more than two goals in a game and 12 times the team was shutout.Last season, the Cats matched their entire 2009 total in their two final regular-season games. For the year, they put 32 balls in the back of the net and took nearly 150 more shots.”It’s exciting, isn’t it?” said assistant coach Michelle Rayner, who was filling for an absent Lipsitz during interviews Thursday.Exciting, but hard to fathom. How does a team that couldn’t put the ball in the net one year find a way to increase its scoring average by more than a goal per game? Rayner said there were a lot of factors.For one, Lipsitz’s first true recruiting class at UK was packed with depth and talent. All seven freshmen Lipsitz brought in saw action last year, as did transfers Kelsey Hunyadi and Natalie Horner. Just about every one of them made a significant contribution, as Kentucky’s top three scorers and five of its leading seven were first-year Wildcats. “You’re looking to bring better players in here each year,” Rayner said. “I think as a coaching staff we do a great job of that. All in all, I think our players’ mentality has progressed from year to year. They’re not only buying in, but they’ve already bought in. The new players that are brought into this program already know the expectation level we’re looking to get at.”

Those new players, in addition to a pair of key veterans in Alyssa Telang, Laura Novikoff, Jenna Goblirsch and Kelly Browning, allowed Lipsitz to return to an attacking style that was successful in his coaching stops at Denison and Charlotte. With the pieces Lipsitz had in place in his first season, the way he saw it was, if they couldn’t score, they were going to at least try to prevent goals.Last year, that changed with a talented recruiting class. Not only could the Cats defend – they allowed 23 goals in 20 games – they also could score.”It was just a different mentality,” Hunyadi said. “We had a different playing style two years ago compared to last year, which is something else we’re trying to build off this year.”The 2010 team built its offense off quick counterattacks. That will remain part of the offense in 2011, but the Cats will also try to possess the ball more.”Our biggest threat is going forward out of there very, very quick,” Rayner said. “Not only do we look for our forwards to get goals, we look for our midfielders to get goals and even our defenders to get in there. We look for everyone to get involved.”With four of the team’s leading scorers returning, including 26 of the 32 goals from last year, the UK coaching staff and players believe the trend of rebuilding has been sped up. The Cats aren’t just looking to build off last year – they’re hoping to compete for an SEC title and make it to the program’s first NCAA Tournament since 2006.Lipsitz’s teams generally show vast improvement in their third season anyway, as he led Denison to the Elite Eight of the D-III NCAA Tournament in his third year and guided Charlotte to the NCAA Tournament in his third campaign. “I think with the way we’ve been training, we’re going to start off on the right foot, right where we ended last year and only get better,” Hunyadi said.Hunyadi led the team with eight goals last season despite missing four games with a head injury. The junior forward said the injury is a thing of the past, and she believes she can do even more this season.”We want more like her,” Rayner said. “She had a great season, but I don’t think she’s even scratched the surface of what she’s capable of doing.”Hunyadi will have help up top from Horner (five goals, seven assists in 2010), sophomore Caitlin Landis (seven goals, one assist) and Telang (three goals, six assists). The one missing ingredient in the offense will be 6-foot Laura Novikoff, who completed her eligibility and serves as an undergraduate student-assistant coach.Replacing Novikoff’s height in the box won’t be easy, but UK will have the fortune of having freshman Arin Gilliland, the most decorated recruit in Kentucky women’s soccer history. Gilliland was a prolific scorer on the high school level and has been on a pair of the U.S. national teams.Although Gilliland will start off as a defender because of preseason injuries to UK’s backline, Rayner said she will almost certainly move forward as midfielder or striker before the season is over.”She’s such a weapon that you can use her anywhere on the field,” Rayner said. “She might become an all-time 90-minute player if she stays healthy. She’s been tremendous. She was here with us in the spring. She grew a lot. She is such a dynamic player. Expectations are high with her and I think you’re going to be surprised at what she does this year.”Gilliland will help fill in for Goblirsch, who was lost for the season last week with a knee injury. There’s a chance Goblirsch may redshirt and return next year, but for the time being, UK will have to do without one of its most steady players on defense.”It’s a crushing blow because you get a player like Jenna’s capability and ability levels that works so hard for nine or 10 months to get back to where she needed to be,” Rayner said. “She was in great shape and doing everything she needed to do to get back on the field, and then to have her go down early is hard. The players have risen up. They’ve not only gotten around Jenna, but they’ve also taken a step up knowing that they need to fill in for her role.”The loss of Goblirsch could be troubling because UK will have a different face between the pipes for the first time since 2006. Sydney Hiance, who recorded five shutouts and 98 saves last year, is out of eligibility, leaving UK with a three-woman battle for the starting position.Sophomore Kayla King is the only returning goalie with any experience and she logged just 36 minutes last season, but King was thrown into full-time duty during the spring and didn’t allow a single goal in seven exhibition games. She figures to be the favorite with a week and a half until the season opener on Aug. 23, but Rayner said the battle is still wide open for freshmen Taylor Mogel and Kayla Price.”One person leaves or one person goes out with an injury, someone has to take that responsibility,” Rayner said. “(Assistant coach) Aaron Rodgers does a tremendous job with the goalkeepers. He’s an amazing coach in that area of the field as well as all over the field. He will bring the best out of the three we have and I think you’ll be shocked who is going to be in goal for us this year. It’s good because it’s going to be a battle every day for them.”