Sept. 27, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After a split weekend which saw the University of Kentucky women’s soccer team pick up a Sunday road win in double-overtime against LSU 2-1, the Wildcats will return home for another weekend of Southeastern Conference action, welcoming the No. 6/8 Texas A&M Aggies to Lexington on Friday night and the Alabama Crimson Tide on Sunday afternoon.
“We are going into this game knowing that we are playing a team that is extremely athletic,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said. “I have been so impressed with watching them on film. It will be one of the highest levels of athleticism that we have faced all year,”
UK enters the weekend with an 8-2-0 overall record and 3-1-0 mark in league play, as the Cats split last weekend with Arkansas and LSU on the road. Kentucky put on a defensive show yet again, only allowing one goal to a highly-potent Tiger offense. The Wildcats defense has allowed one or fewer goals in eight of the first 10 games of the season.
For the second-consecutive weekend, freshman Courtney Raetzman shined, collecting three goals on the weekend, including the golden goal in the 106th minute of overtime at LSU Sunday afternoon. The Elk Grove, Ill., native has 10 points in her last four games.
Texas A&M will be playing its first event in Lexington as a member of the Southeastern Conference Friday night. The Aggies come into the game as one of only two teams left in the SEC who are unbeaten in conference play, joining Missouri. TAMU is 10-1-0 on the season with its lone falter coming at San Diego in the early going of the season. Entering the game as the No. 6/8 team in the nation, they will be the highest-ranked team ever to compete in women’s soccer at the UK Soccer Complex.
“Texas A&M is an exact foil for who we are. They are going to apply so much pressure to our back line that they are going to disrupt the way that we like to play soccer. It is two different styles that are both incredibly effective,” Lipsitz said.
The showdown Friday night will be the third time the Cats have faced off against a top-15 team. UK collected wins at No. 12 Louisville and versus No. 13 Florida earlier in the season to hold a 2-0 record against teams ranked in the top 15 of the nation.
Alabama is coming off a 1-0 loss to Ole Miss in Tuscaloosa and has registered a 1-3-1 record in its last five games. Under the direction of fifth-year coach Todd Bramble, the Tide are currently sitting at 6-3-1 overall, including a 1-2-1 mark within the conference. Last season, UK’s Caitlin Landis had a multi-point game, notching two goals in a 4-1 defeat of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Friday’s game will kick off at 7:00 p.m. ET, with Sunday’s contest coming as the front end of a doubleheader with UK men’s soccer at Noon ET.
For continuing coverage of UK women’s soccer, log on to UKathletics.com.
