Oct. 7, 2011
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – A strong second half with more aggressive play led the UK women’s soccer team to a 2-1 come-from-behind win in overtime Friday at against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Kentucky (10-3-0, 3-2-0 Southeastern Conference) totaled 24 shots in the match including 12 in the second half and one in overtime which proved to be the golden goal.
Only a minute and a half into the first overtime, Kentucky controlled the ball, sending it inside the 18-yard box where Caitlin Landis was dragged down by an Arkansas defender resulting in a penalty kick. Senior captain Kelsey Hunyadi stepped up and converted the kick for her eighth goal of the season and the win. It was her third game-winning goal of the season.
“Kelsey has scored to the right, to the left and down the middle this year,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said. “People will try to scout her, but she is very sophisticated in that way. People don’t realize how Kelsey works on these little details and they might not remember that she missed one to end our season last season and that sat with her.”
“It’s a huge win; I was excited,” Hunyadi said. “I like those moments. I like being able to put the game away; I felt like I needed to. I missed a lot of opportunities tonight, and it was my way of making it up to them tonight.”
In order to get the match to overtime, the Wildcats needed a strong, aggressive second half which they got when they moved freshman Arin Gilliland up top.
“We weren’t happy with our play in the first half,” Lipsitz said. “We have certain expectations for our play, and we didn’t meet those in the first half. We talked about becoming more aggressive and having more of a sense of urgency. When you want to be more urgent, you insert Arin Gilliland up top. She certainly responded in a great way.”
Trailing 1-0 in the 50th minute, the Wildcats got exactly what they were looking for, an opportunity for Gilliland. Natalie Horner got the play started, putting the ball over the top of the Arkansas defense to Caitlin Landis. Landis took the pass and centered a shot to a charging Gilliland in front of the goal. The freshman beat the Arkansas keeper for the equalizer and her third goal of the year.
Arkansas (4-8-0, 2-3-0) got on the board in the 35th minute when Kailey Anderson grabbed a rebound off a shot from Lauren Locklear and rifled it past UK goalie Kayla Price.
The win pushed Kentucky’s win total to 10 for the 12th time in program history. It marks the first time UK has tallied back-to-back 10-win seasons since the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
UK remains undefeated at home and is now 17-6-4 on its home turf under Lipsitz, who registered his first win over the Razorbacks.
The weekend action continues on Sunday when Kentucky hosts LSU, ranked 18th in the latest RPI, in a 1:00 p.m. ET start. UK women’s soccer and the UK HealthCare Pediatric Unit are teaming up for the match dubbed, “Kick Cancer.”
Admission to the match is $5 with $1 dollar from every ticket sold being donated to the UK Healthcare Pediatric Unit. Official KICK CANCER match t-shirts will be sold online on the UK team shop at UKAthletics.com.
The Wildcats will be wearing pink jerseys, and immediately following the match, the jerseys will be auctioned off on the UK Team Shop website at UKathletics.com. The auction will go from Sunday, Oct. 9th at 1:00 p.m. to Friday, Oct. 14th at 5:00 p.m. ET.
The Wildcats will also being wearing gold shoes laces in honor of pediatrics. Those same shoe laces will be sold at the game with all profits going to the pediatric unit.
Also following the match there will be an on-field post game ceremony to honor all those that have been affected by cancer.
