UK women’s soccer dominant in home openers
September 2, 2014
By Kevin Erpenbeck
The UK women’s soccer team was looking for a way to respond at home after giving up five goals in two road games to start its 2014 season.
Sweeping the home opening weekend with an 8-0 goal differential is the perfect response.
In the grand opening of the Cats’ new home, the Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex, UK showcased dominant performances against Francis Marion and Ohio University over the weekend. The Cats wanted to begin their new stadium’s history in a winning fashion.
And head coach Jon Lipsitz wanted his team to put on a show.
“We’re really excited to be back home and play in front of the Big Blue Nation,” Lipsitz said. “This is an unbelievable new stadium we have here, and we really wanted to give our fans something to cheer for in this first game.”
UK controlled the entire game against Francis Marion, winning 5-0 and not allowing the Patriots to record a single shot. By the fifth minute in the second half, it was a 4-0 UK lead, resulting in most of the Cats’ starters to relax on the bench for the remainder of the game while the substitute players were brought in.
The Cats followed that game up with a 3-0 win over Ohio on Sunday. Again, UK controlled the flow of the game, taking 30 shots in the match while only allowing the Bobcats two.
Lipsitz was proud of the way the team responded defensively after allowing five goals in its season opening west coast trip against Washington and Seattle University.
“This was a team that was a little angry about some mistakes we made in the past,” Lipsitz said. “We went to Washington and allowed them to score on the three times they touched the ball in the box. We realized we didn’t play well enough in that game, and we learned from that loss.”
Even though the Cats won their game against Seattle 2-1 in overtime, it was a late goal by the Redhawks that pushed the match past regulation.
“We’ve been working very hard on not giving up opportunities,” Lipsitz said. “We wanted to show that we’re cleaning that up.”
Sophomore forward Michaela Dooley, a transfer from University of San Diego, scored her first goal as a Cat in the Francis Marion match.
“This is the standard that we set ourselves to,” Dooley said, speaking of the win against Francis Marion. “We were caught on our heels in the last two games, and it wasn’t a good demonstration of what this team can do. So we came out ready to win at home.”
