Oct. 24, 2014
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s soccer team used a goal in each half to move into third place on the 2014 Southeastern Conference table with a 2-0 win over the LSU Tigers on Friday night at the LSU Soccer Stadium, thus clinching its spot in the Wildcats’ fifth-straight SEC Tournament.
“We did not play a great first half tonight,” UK head coach Jon Lipstiz said. “What I liked about our performance was we were admirably better in the second half and made the changes like a coach wants to see its team make halftime adjustments. It’s always good to get a road win in this league, and LSU was a tough team to beat on the road, especially with Brian Lee and his staff. We look forward to an unbelievably tough match against Georgia on Sunday with them having Senior Day.”
Stuart Pope scored her second goal of the season, and in as many goals in the 27th minute as junior Kelli Hubly centered a ball across the top of the box which was collected by Pope about 13 yards from goal and it was hammered home by Pope for the 1-0 lead.
The Kentucky (11-5-0, 6-3-0 SEC) goal scored was the Wildcats fourth-straight goal scored first in matches this season, as UK improved to 11-0-0 this season when scoring the match’s first goal.
At halftime, UK was dominating the stats, with 10 shots and four of them on goal. The Tigers (5-11-2, 1-7-1 SEC) had just four shots overall and one on goal in the opening 45 minutes of action.
In the opening ticks of the second half, UK’s Jade Klump scored her seventh goal of the season on a rebound try after both Pope and sophomore Zoe Swift had cracks at the goal. Klump’s try was the third in the sequence that started with Swift going 1v1 with the keeper, beating her endline, and forcing a team save in front of net. Pope’s try was then saved off the line by a Tiger defender before Klump’s try was put home to double the Wildcats’ lead.
The win for Kentucky locks up a spot in the 2014 SEC Tournament for the Wildcats, their fifth-straight conference tournament appearance. Kentucky after the matches tonight are now in third place all alone in the Southeastern Conference.
Freshman keeper Taylor Braun was only forced to make three saves on the night, and thwarted off all nine of LSU’s shots. The shutout was Braun’s fourth-straight shutout as she has now recorded 360 consecutive scoreless minutes in the net for the Wildcats.
For continuing coverage of UK women’s soccer, log on to UKathletics.com.
