Sept. 23, 2012
BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 18 University of Kentucky women’s soccer team (8-2-0, 3-1-0 SEC) struck gold in the 106th minute of overtime to capture a 2-1 Southeastern Conference road win over LSU Sunday afternoon at LSU Soccer stadium in Baton Rouge, La.
The golden goal came off the foot of freshman Courtney Raetzman in the 106th minute as the shot from about 22 yards out hit the top of the crossbar, and fell down, just crossing the stripe for the goal. The possession came off the UK midfield earning a turnover from a throw in. Raetzman’s goal was her second of the afternoon, and fourth goal of the season.
“I am very proud of this team today,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said. “Not only did we play in the heat, but I’m proud of how we played the game today. We were able to keep possession and create some really great scoring chances all through the game. Look, LSU is a phenomenal team. We know every time we play Brian (Lee) and his staff, they are going to be ready for us with a great game plan and great players.”
Raetzman has been on a tear lately, striking for four goals in four games, all while tallying a massive 10 points over the last two weekends of action.
UK struck first in the opening half when Raetzman netted her third goal of the season as she headed home the games opening tally with just over 18 minutes remaining in the first half. The service was provided from fellow freshman Kelli Hubly on a re-fire from a blocked cross. The ball came across the mouth of the goal and was touched in for the tally.
LSU struck just nine minutes into the second half on a penalty kick by goalkeeper Megan Kinneman. The foul was whistled inside the 18 as the LSU forward fell to the ground when her legs got tangled up on entry to the box. The goal was just the second all season that keeper Kayla Price had allowed.
Kentucky thought they struck for the go-ahead goal with just nine minutes remaining, as junior Caitlin Landis put in a rebound off a Natalie Horner miss on a corner-kick opportunity, however the goal was called back for offside on the rebound attempt after the save on Horner’s shot.
The remaining seconds of regulation would see very few scoring chances as UK and LSU would head to overtime.
The overtime match was the first of the season for UK, as LSU had already drawn a tie in three prior contests to Sunday’s game.
UK would earn a few corner kicks in the first overtime frame, as junior Danielle Krohn was working hard in midfield serving balls in that UK connected on, but could never find the back of the net. The 10-minute session ended with the score still tied at 1-1.
Olivia Jester forced the Tigers to record a team save in the second OT frame as she had an open net and just lost control of her plant foot as she had the keeper beat, but couldn’t get it past the last line of defense as there was a back save.
The overtime win was UK’s fourth in its last six overtime games, as Kentucky went 3-1-1 in 2011 in extra-session games.
Kentucky will next take the pitch Friday evening as UK welcomes the No. 10 Texas A&M Aggies to the UK Soccer Complex for the Aggies’ first-ever SEC event in Lexington. The game will start at 7:00 p.m. ET.
For continuing coverage of UK women’s soccer, log on to UKathletics.com.
