By Kevin Erpenbeck

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UK women’s soccer proved how resilient they are when they tied up their match twice after falling behind 1-0 and 2-1 to Pepperdine on Sunday.

But sometimes, resiliency does not equal a win, as UK eventually fell to the Waves 3-2 in overtime.

The match pitted two top-25 teams against each other, as No. 24 UK and No. 13 Pepperdine clashed in UK’s first match against a ranked team this season. It was their last nonconference game before the Southeastern Conference portion of the schedule begins.

For the Cats, it was a test to see how well they could hold up against stiff competition. Pepperdine’s test pushed UK to its limits.

“Besides in our defensive-third, we played very well,” said head coach Jon Lipsitz. “We’ve just got to get so much better in taking care of our jobs defensively.”

Statistically, the Cats had their chances against the Waves. UK shot 19 times compared to Pepperdine’s nine, and doubled up their shots on goal attempts, 10-5.

But Pepperdine finished its chances in the box while UK did not, ultimately resulting in the Waves’ victory.

“Pepperdine deserved to win because they found holes in our defense and scored some big goals. All credit to them,” Lipsitz said.

A defensive gaff on a Wave counter attack caused the Cats’ first deficit of the game. It was not until the second half that UK tied it up on a goal by junior forward Kelli Hubly, her first of the season.

The game seemed destined to go into overtime after the equalizer, until Waves’ forward Lynn Williams scored in the 82nd minute off of another counter attack against the Cats. Now in desperation mode,

UK needed somebody to be resilient in the waning minutes of regulation to push the game into overtime.

And senior forward Arin Gilliland was that someone, knotting the match up with 32 seconds remaining.

“Resilience is something that can happen,” Gilliland said. “We played great and had our chances all throughout the game.”

But the feeling of resiliency did not translate into better play in overtime, as the Cats gave up another goal to Williams two minutes into extra time, effectively ending the match.

“You’ve got to keep that resilience going throughout the game,” Gilliland said. “Your emotions can change right before overtime begins, and we weren’t ready to fight from the very first minute. Because of that, we didn’t show resiliency in overtime. If you don’t show in overtime, then it really doesn’t matter if you showed it before.”

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Cats and a four-game streak of goal prevention. Lipsitz said the loss will be a learning step for the team as they prepare to face a tough SEC schedule in the coming weeks.

“It’s a whole new season now,” Lipsitz said. “We have to take the good and the bad from preconference and prepare for conference play. We know it’s a whole new level, and we’ve got to be prepared for it.”