Oct. 26, 2012

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After recording her fourth shutout in the past five games, University of Kentucky women’s soccer goalkeeper Kayla King was named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week, it was announced Friday by the league office.

King was the leader of the UK defense again on Thursday night, earning her fifth-straight start and making three saves en route to a 3-0 win over Vanderbilt to close the regular season. King kept a clean sheet for the fourth time in her last five starts, and has gone 422 minutes while only allowing one goal.

The Louisville, Ky., native now has ranked herself among the best in the SEC, sporting a microscopic 0.69 goals against average in her 15 appearances, which ranks third in the conference. In addition, King ranks second in save percentage (.849), fifth in shutouts (5) and third in the SEC with 0.33 shutouts per game.

The honor is King’s second in the last three weeks, as she was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 16 after posting back-to-back shutouts on a road trip vs. Tennessee and Georgia.

The Wildcats finished up the regular season Thursday night and will now turn its attention to the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala. UK earned the No. 4 seed and will face off against the Missouri Tigers in a rematch of an overtime battle from a month ago. The game is slated for an 8:30 p.m. ET kickoff at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.

For continuing coverage of UK women’s soccer, log on to UKathletics.com.