Dooley, Ledman, Klump Power No. 13 Kentucky Past Butler
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Over 1,000 fans packed the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex on Sunday night to watch the No. 13 University of Kentucky women’s soccer team down Butler 4-1 in the annual Kick-Cancer Match.
With the 4-1 result, Kentucky wraps up non-conference play 6-1-1 on the year, and combined with the two Southeastern Conference matches already played, UK now sits 8-1-1 overall.
Kentucky dominated the run of play during the match, specifically in the second half, where the Wildcats were able to knock the ball around comfortably for the last half hour of the match to put away the Bulldogs.
The scoring commenced in the 30th minute when junior Michaela Dooley notched her fourth goal of the season to put the Wildcats up 1-0. Dooley was on the receiving end of a Kaitlin Miller corner kick waiting on the far post with her head to knock it past Butler keeper Madison Card.
UK would go into the locker room at the half with a 1-0 lead, and a 7-3 edge in shots.
In the second half, just three minutes in, senior captain Cara Ledman launched a 35-yard shot from the left flank and soared it past Card who was caught off her line, and went into the back of the net for the 2-0 edge. The goal was Ledman’s third of the season, already giving her more goals this season than her junior campaign.
Just 180 ticks of the clock later, junior Jade Klump recorded her third goal on the season and 12th of her career with a toe-poke past the keeper after a double-deflection from Katy Keen and Courtney Raetzman, who were both given credit for assists.
Butler would pull one back on its only shot of the night in the 76th minute as Breann Pempek got the ball at the top of the box and pushed it past Katelyn Jensen for the goal. It was the first goal scored on UK’s back five in over 200 minutes.
Kentucky would add an insurance goal in the 88th minute as Cara Ledman served in a beautifully-weighted ball to the box that was knocked in by the Butler defense as Tanya Samarzich was putting pressure on the defense to clear, and it went over the line for the score.
Kentucky continues its three-match homestand on Friday night against the Missouri Tigers. The SEC match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET and be shown live on the SEC Network. Kentucky continues to sit atop the SEC standings with a perfect six points through two matches, and the best non-conference record in the league outside of Texas A&M.
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.
