By Kevin Erpenbeck

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The in-state rivalry between UK and Louisville has always been the most anticipated matchup across all of UK athletics. The games are usually intense, evenly matched, and vary between which team wins each year.

But with UK women’s soccer winning three straight years against the Cardinals, that rivalry is starting to look one sided.

The Cats have a golden opportunity to establish dominance over their Bluegrass enemy when they travel to Louisville on Friday. A win would make it four straight victories against the Cardinals and fifth out of the last six years.

It’s not like Louisville has been bad during recent years. The Cardinals have been NCAA Tournament participants two out of the last four years, and were No. 12 in the nation when UK defeated them in 2012.

Rankings and records do not matter to the Cats. The team mentally circles the date every year the schedule is released and prepares to play its best soccer of the year just to earn the bragging rights.

“They’re so amped up and excited for this game. They don’t need our urging to get them going,” said head coach Jon Lipsitz before the Cats defeated their rivals 2-0 last year.

And they have a legitimate chance to do it again this year. The Cardinals entered the season with 12 freshmen on their roster, five of them being tabbed as starters. Considering UK’s roster only has two freshmen on its roster, the Cats’ experience could prove to be too much for the young Cardinals to handle.

UK senior forward Arin Gilliland could also prove to be too much to handle. The reigning SEC Player of the Week is off to another great start this season, recording three goals and four assists in the first four games. If the Cats come out on top, Gilliland can claim a 4-0 record against Louisville during her career; something few UK athletes can match.

Friday’s game will still figure to be as intense and heated as any other UK-Louisville matchup. But another Cats win will give them control of this rivalry and more Bluegrass bragging rights.