Keen’s First-Career Goal Earns UK Fifth Straight Win Over Louisville
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sophomore Katy Keen’s
59th-minute goal, the first of her career, was the match’s only goal on Friday
night, as the No. 22 University of Kentucky women’s soccer team blanked the
Louisville Cardinals to win its fifth straight “Battle of the Bluegrass” 1-0,
in front of a new Kentucky Soccer record crowd of 3,371 fans.
Keen was played the ball from 11 yards out
across the box and square with the goal by winger Lauren Nemeroff, who notched
her first-career point on Friday night with the game-winning assist. Keen
placed the ball off the ground into the net to the keepers’ right above the
gloves to put the Wildcats up 1-0.
The match started at 8:51 p.m. ET, some 81
minutes after the scheduled start time of 7:30 due to weather in the area.
Match officials determined it was safe to begin the match with a window of
opportunity, and it was completed with no weather-related issues.
It was a match of attrition, featuring four
yellow card and 25 fouls during the 90 minutes. The Cardinals ended up with 10
shots, one more than Kentucky – but the Wildcat defense only allowed three of
them on goal. There was a moment for the Cardinals offense right after the
goal, but UK’s defense swept a rebound off the line and cleared it for the
game-saving play. Freshman keeper Katelyn Jensen made two saves on the night,
recording her fourth shutout in fifth game for the Wildcats.
The crowd of 3,371 fans combined with the men’s
match at 5:00 p.m. ET set a new UK soccer record for most fans to watch any men’s
or women’s match in its 23-year history.
Kentucky has now shutout the Cards
four-straight years, making it now 397 consecutive minutes since UL has last
scored a goal on the Wildcats. This is the fifth time that UK has won five
straight in the series over the Cardinals, as the Wildcats won the first five
played.
UK returns home on Sunday to round out the
weekend with a match against Ohio University at 6 p.m. ET. The match will be
shown live on the SEC Network+ with Neil Price and J.D. Stephenson on the call.
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.
