Raetzman’s Corner Powers No. 16 UK Over No. 20 Washington
Highlights and post-match reaction | Box Score
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Senior captain
Courtney Raetzman’s corner kick goal in the 39th minute that went into the back
of the net untouched turned out to be the game-winning goal as the No. 16
University of Kentucky women’s soccer team gathered a 1-0 win over the No. 20
Washington Huskies in its season opener on Friday night.
“It was tough,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said
about Friday’s fixture. “We knew Washington was going to come after them with
everything that they had. Once we weathered the storm in the first 15-20
minutes of the game, then the game relaxed a little bit and everybody could
take a breath. We felt like we really started playing extremely well. You
always have a plan as a coach, and it doesn’t always happen. Today it happened.”
In front of the fifth-largest crowd ever to
watch a UK women’s soccer match in Lexington, Raetzman took the corner from the
right side in the 39th minute and served in a curling ball into the six-yard
box that went through the defense and over the line for the game’s only goal.
Raetzman, an Elk Grove, Ill., native scored
six goals a season ago and is UK’s second-leading returning scorer from its 2014 team
that advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. Raetzman,
who stands at 4’11’’, scored on her only shot of the night.
Kentucky outshot UW by a tally of 13-7, while
also collecting a 5-4 edge in corner kicks, which proved to be the deciding
outcome in the game. The leading shot-taker for UK was Kaitlin Miller, who had
four shots, with one of them on goal. Freshman Sophie Babo and Lauren Nemeroff
each launched shots in their Wildcat debuts as well. The Huskies were held to just three players
recording a shot.
Freshman goalkeeper Katelyn Jensen was called
upon to get her first-career start in the net on Friday, and made the most of
it, recording a clean sheet, thwarting off all four Huskie efforts on net.
Kentucky is back in action in its home-opening
weekend on Sunday afternoon at 7 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network+ as UK plays
host to the San Diego Aztecs, who are receiving votes in the national polls.
UK is also seeking ball kids for its Sunday match with SDSU. Please email alexandra.ayer@uky.edu if your club team is interested.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s soccer team, follow @UKWomensSoccer on Twitter,
Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
