UK women’s soccer drops to 1-4 in SEC play after a loss to Vanderbilt
Senior midfielder Katy Keen runs after the ball during the game against Vanderbilt University on Thursday, October 5, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. UK was defeated 0 to 2. Photo by Arden Barnes | Staff
October 5, 2017
The UK women’s soccer team looked to keep their momentum going on Thursday night as they welcomed the Vanderbilt Commodores to the Bell. However, they would fall short to Vanderbilt as they lost 2-0.
The loss moved UK’s record to 6-8 on the season and 1-4 in SEC play.
The Cats were coming off an impressive win last Friday night against LSU where they held the Tigers scoreless for the entirety of the game, earning a 3-0 win. It was their first win in SEC play.
On top of an incredible show out by the Cats against LSU, sophomore goalkeeper Evangeline Soucie was named SEC Defensive Player of the week on Monday.
The Commodores took control of this match relatively early in the game. Vanderbilt sophomore forward Leila Azari scored in the 24th minute off an assist from another fellow forward Simone Charley, making the score 1-0.
Vanderbilt played scrappy the entirety of the first half, while UK couldn’t produce any offense.
The Commodores ended the first half with seven fouls, one of them being a yellow card, one corner kick and one shot on goal. UK ended the half with no shots on goal, but they did earn three corner kicks and they only had two fouls.
The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Commodores at the end of the first half.
The Cats needed a savior and energy boost to ignite their offense in the second half, but there seemed to be no one quite right for the job during this match. UK ended the game scoreless and Vanderbilt’s offense that had been dormant nearly the whole second half found a surge of energy in the 87th minute.
Again, it was forward Azari to score for the Commodores, making the final score 2-0.
Senior midfielder Katy Keen acknowledged that this was not the Cats’ best performance, but she said that the team will learn from this loss and benefit from it.
“We just try to keep the mentality the same (within the team), even after a loss, you’re going to have them and they are going to be hard and we have a lot of learning to do,” Keen said.
UK women’s soccer will hit the road to Starkville, Mississippi, for a Sunday afternoon match up against Mississippi State. The game is set to start at 3 p.m. and the Cats will be in search of their second SEC win on the season.
