Women’s soccer gets physical
September 28, 2015
By Katherine Stach
Tensions were high on Sunday night as the No. 9 ranked UK women’s soccer team took home its 9th win of the season, and its first since 2009 against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
The Razorbacks were out for blood in a game that totaled more than 30 fouls between the two teams.
What the Razorbacks didn’t know, however, was that the Cats were out for blood too, especially after suffering a 3-1 loss to the Missouri Tigers Friday night.
“We can only be who we are,” coach Jon Lipsitz said. “Today, we found something inside of ourselves to fight harder and win more balls after the loss Friday night.”
A mere five minutes into the first half, forward Michaela Dooley cinched the first goal with an impressive backwards flick into the box with the assist from freshman Sophie Babo.
The Cats were able to team up defensively and hold the Razorbacks back from scoring for the entirety of the first half, going into intermission with a 1-0 lead.
UK snagged its second goal of the game in the 78th minute when midfielder Kaitlin Miller slotted home the ball with an assist from forward Zoe Swift.
“We focused on winning first and second balls and then getting those down the field and playing our game,” Miller said.
Swift made another huge play in the 78th minute of the game when she broke free and drove the ball 70 yards before being tackled by a member of the Arkansas backline.
The Cats would’ve been handed a penalty kick shout as a result, but there was no call from the referees and play continued.
Swift said game’s many forward drives were made possible with advice from Lipsitz.
“We did as coach said, and made sure to transition fast and stay engaged in the game,” Swift said.
Arkansas was able the break through the UK defense and score in the 81st minute of the game when forward Alexandra Fischer rebounded the ball off the crossbar.
In the grand scheme of things, however, the Cats still came out victorious.
UK advances to 9-2-1 overall, 3-1-0 in SEC play, while Arkansas drops to 5-6-0 overall and 1-3-0 in SEC play. UK is now tied with Auburn for second place in the conference, trailing only South Carolina (10-1-0, 4-0-0 SEC).
The Cats return to the field at 7 p.m. Friday to face the Florida Gators (8-3-0, 2-2-0 SEC) in Gainesville. Game coverage will be available on SEC Network+, ESPN 3 and WatchESPN.
