Nov. 6, 2013
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The fourth-seeded, and No. 25 ranked Ole Miss Rebels knocked off the University of Kentucky women’s soccer team in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 Southeastern Conference season at the Orange Beach SportsPlex in Orange Beach, Ala., defeating the Wildcats 2-0.
“This game went pretty much how we thought it would go,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said. “The game got pretty extended because we knew both teams were going to want to attack. We didn’t like that we had to be pretty direct, but with all of the players that we had out, we knew we were going to have to play a direct style. We got all the chances we wanted in the first 70 minutes or so and didn’t finish anything.”
The Rebels got on the board in the 22nd minute to take the lead when Mandy McCalla scored her 14th goal of the season, striking a ball far post past a diving Kayla King from the top of the box. Bethany Bunker played McCalla a ball into space at the top of the box, and it was touched to the middle of the field and struck far post.
Ole Miss added to their lead in the 55th minute on a penalty kick goal from First Team All-SEC member Rafaelle Souza. The Rebels were on the attack and the Wildcats defender slid to remove the ball from her feet, and at the top of the 18 was whistled for a foul inside the area. Souza then stepped up and hit the PK to King’s left to take the 2-0 lead.
The loss is Kentucky’s first time losing back-to-back matches all season, as UK was previously 3-0-1 in matches that were following a loss.
Entering Wednesday’s match, UK was sitting at No. 30 in the NCAA RPI, with the Rebels at No. 31 before the quarterfinal match.
The NCAA Selection Show is set for Monday, Nov. 11 at 4:30 p.m. ET, and will be shown live on NCAASports.com. The Wildcats are expected to receive an at-large bid into the 64-team field for the third-straight season under Lipsitz. Kentucky has never made the NCAA Tournament three straight years in program history.
“For us, coming down here was about getting some film and working on some things,” Lipsitz said. “This is the second time this season where because of injury, we are changing everything about the way we play. We have treated these last two weeks as a way to develop for the NCAAs, and I’m proud of the work we have done to put ourselves in that position.”
For continuing coverage of UK women’s soccer, log on to UKathletics.com.
