By Kevin Erpenbeck

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A common theme in UK women’s soccer‘s history in the SEC Tournament has always been one-and-done. No matter how much the program improved over the years or how many conference games the team won during a regular season, UK just couldn’t find success in the SEC matches that mattered the most.

However, this year has been different and felt so entering the 2014 SEC Tournament. This year’s Cats were on a hot streak, winning their last six games of the regular season and appeared more driven and determined than ever to change UK’s luck during the tournament

This year, they expected to win.

And they exceeded all outside expectations by making it to the SEC Championship game.

UK’s first opponent in the tournament was Auburn, a team it had previously beaten 2-1 in the regular season. The rematch resulted in the same outcome, but the feeling of achieving victory felt so much better. No longer was the program restricted to proving its conference success by just pointing to its regular season wins. UK finally had an SEC Tournament win to fall back on.

Yet this year’s Cats weren’t satisfied with just one win. After Tennessee defeated Florida in a shocking upset, the Cats went on to face the Lady Volunteers in the semifinals. The overmatched, but scrappy Tennessee team became UK’s second victim. The Cats raced out to an early 3-0 lead over the Volunteers, and held off a furious comeback to win 3-2 to advance to the program’s first SEC Championship game since 2006.

The expectations of this year’s Cats were exceeded with the win.

The Cats, however, would eventually fall to the regular season conference winner, Texas A&M, 1-0 on Sunday, but they had already proven that they were different this year. The one-and-done outings were over, and they proved they could win when it mattered most.

By advancing to the SEC Championship game, UK has put itself in excellent position to be a Top-16 team heading into the selection for the NCAA Tournament. Being in the Top -16 would mean UK could play two tournament games at home; a huge advantage for a UK team that is 9-1 at home.

UK has never won two NCAA Tournament games in its history, and would have an excellent shot at doing so if rewarded for its performance in the SEC Tournament. In proving to themselves and to the doubters that this UK team is built for a tournament run, the expectations for the Cats will only continue to grow.