Kentucky women’s soccer (12-4-3, 5-4-3 SEC) suffered heartbreaking loss to No. 17 Georgia (11-3-5, 7-1-3 SEC) in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.
The Wildcats entered the matchup looking rested and fast after their 1-0 victory over Florida two days prior.
The first half, along with much of the game was defensively ran, alongside the loud voice of the true freshmen goalie Megan Holland.
Georgia came out trying to fire on all cylinders trying to put anything on net.
Early on in the second minute, quick chaos unfolded as Holland attempted to jump on a missed kick but trickled away as the goal was saved by sophomore defender Katherine Truitt.
Truitt’s hustle and effort didn’t end early as she made a presence throughout the game, alongside her teammates as well.
Kentucky’s defense was not going to make it easy on the Bulldogs as it were in an attempt for revenge after Georgia shut out the Cats 1-0 in Athens, Ga.
However, this time it was on the big stage of the SEC tournament.
The entirety of the first half fluctuated on close calls, from Georgia’s goal that was wiped due to being offsides, to a two-minute stretch by the Wildcats where they put a surplus of shots on goal, leaving majority of them wide to the left.
The first half closed at a 0-0 tie, and the second half brought nothing but more excitement.
More of the Wildcat offense showed their presence in the second half, such as dominant junior Tanner Strickland, who brought her physicality from the first half and never let up in the second.
The midfielder, Strickland, was everywhere in the presence and face of Bulldogs all throughout the game, causing turnovers and changes of possessions.
Strickland however had her moments of over physicality by committing five fouls during the match, but she kept the intensity during any attempt of a Bulldogs push for a goal.
Not long into the second half, the first-round hero Catherine Rapp struck again with another goal in the 53rd minute to give Kentucky the 1-0 lead.
The entertaining second half didn’t calm down there as both teams flirted with attempts to score again, and Georgia came extremely close in the 69th minute, but eventually followed through and tied the game 1-1 in the 74th minute.
The Wildcats fell just short in the final minute almost taking the lead, which took the match to the first overtime of the tournament.
Throughout the game and even into overtime, it was the true freshmen goalies’ show, from Georgia’s own Hannah Folliard snagging Kentucky away from glory.
From a scary play and a yellow card by Kentucky during the 105th minute, it never mattered as both overtimes brought the game to penalty kicks to determine who moved on to play Vanderbilt in the semi-finals.
The penalty kicks shied away from anything boring, as Georgia started strong going 4-4, leaving the Wildcats behind after missing the first one, giving them the burden and stress to make every goal from now on.
Holland in the moment with Georgia’s chance to win, made a game changing save, leading to a Grace Hoytink penalty kick score to take it into sudden death.
However, the moment didn’t live long as Georgia hit its next goal and then saved Kentucky’s rebuttal resulting in Kentucky losing.
A heartbreaking loss for the Cats, but it may not be the end for them.
The Wildcats will sit and wait for their fate to come on Monday, Nov. 10 to see if their name is called to play for the national circuit for the second straight year.
