July 16, 2014
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky head women’s soccer coach Jon Lipsitz announced the addition of Michaela Dooley on Wednesday afternoon, as she will be transferring to Kentucky with three years of eligibility remaining.
“We are extremely excited about Michaela joining our program at Kentucky,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said. “Michaela is a is a special attacking player, and that is backed up by her six goals last season as a freshman. We know that she will be a great addition to the Wildcat family and we are looking forward to working with her and developing her into a world-class player here at UK. One of the most important parts of our recruiting process is who our student-athletes are as people and their character on and off the field. She fits in perfectly with the culture that we have created at Kentucky and we look forward to developing her as a player and a person as well.”
Dooley as a freshman was the University of San Diego Toreros’ second-leading scorer in her only season with USD, scoring six goals and collecting 13 points. In her first-career collegiate match, Dooley scored two goals against San Jose State, and then backed that up with another goal in her second-career NCAA match against USC.
Dooley appeared in all 20 of the Toreros’ matches in 2013, starting in 18 of them as a forward. She hails from Paradise Valey, Ariz., and attended Xavier College Prep High School, while playing her club soccer for SC del Sol. While at Xavier College Prep, she helped lead her team to the Arizona Division I State Championship and was named the Arizona Player of the Year, Phoenix Player of the Year, first-team All-Arizona, first-team All-Region and was an AIA Scholar Athlete. In her time with SC del Sol club soccer, Dooley helped lead them to the 2011 State Championship.
With the addition of Dooley to Kentucky’s roster, Kentucky will return 44 goals scored in 2013 matches to its 2014 team, including 12 from Arin Gilliland, nine from Zoe Swift and six from Dooley.
Kentucky will kick off the 2014 season in Seattle, Wash., against the Washington Huskies at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Friday, Aug. 22 followed by a match against Seattle U on Aug. 24 at 3 p.m. ET.
For continuing coverage of UK women’s soccer, log on to UKathletics.com.
