Oct. 18, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s soccer team returns to Lexington, Ky., this weekend for the first time in the month of October, as UK will host South Carolina at 6:30 p.m. ET Friday night in a game that will be shown live on Fox Sports South. The weekend will conclude against the Auburn Tigers at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday.
“Every game now starts feeling like a single-elimination tournament,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said. “That is what we are building towards, and if we work hard, we will be in that situation soon. We need to understand that on our best day and our worst day, we need to find a way to get it done.”
Kentucky is coming off a 2-0-0 weekend on the road for the first time under Lipsitz after capturing two shutout victories over Tennessee and Georgia. The six points on the weekend were vital, as the Wildcats improved to fifth in the Southeastern Conference standings and now are in position to clinch a spot in the SEC Tournament with one win in any of the final three games of the regular season.
The Wildcats got their first win over South Carolina in over five years in 2011 as UK downed the Gamecocks 1-0 behind a Caitlin Landis goal late in the first half. The goal would prove to be all the Wildcats would need as UK hung on for the three points. Kentucky leads the all-time series with South Carolina 11-6-1, all while boasting a 5-3-0 record against the Gamecocks in Lexington.
“South Carolina is extremely hard to score on,” Lipsitz said. “Last year we finally got one in on them and were able to hang on. We play a totally different style than them. They are much more direct and much more defensive at the same time. We have to have great possession and have to find a way to break them out of their shell. It’s going to come down to a couple moments just like all our other SEC games do as well.”
Auburn comes into the weekend holding a 9-8-0 record, including an even 5-5-0 record in the rigors of SEC play. The Tigers have a record of 3-2 in their last five games, all while holding an NCAA RPI of 47. Auburn is coming off a 1-1 weekend in which the Tigers fell to the Arkansas Razorbacks in a 1-0 decision Sunday afternoon in Fayetteville, Ark., and a win in Athens, Ga., against the Bulldogs.
Kentucky currently sits fifth in the SEC standings with 16 points, trailing third-place Tennessee by just three points. The leader of the conference is Florida, who has 29 points, and leads the second-place Texas A&M Aggies by two points. UK’s 2-1 win over the Gators is Florida’s only blemish on its SEC schedule, while the Wildcats tied Texas A&M 1-1 three weeks back. The top 10 teams in the league standings advance to the 2012 SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala. Florida, Texas A&M, Missouri and Tennessee have all clinched spots in the tournament.
For continuing coverage of UK women’s soccer, log on to UKathletics.com.
