A rainy night at the Bell and the pressure of a possible first SEC win this season caused the UK women’s soccer team to slip and fall to the Ole Miss Rebels Saturday night in nail-biting double overtime fashion with a final score of 2-1.  

Throughout the first half neither side of the field was overpowering the other. The Cats came out of the gate swinging with solid cross field passes and strong possessions. However, the midfield lacked support for the forwards and played too narrowly, losing strong possessions in the midfield.

Although the Rebels did not take a shot in the first, they showed strong footwork and passing and kept the defense tight, not allowing the Cats to score on their 4 shots taken.

After the half the Cats showed plenty of offensive aggression and took 13 shots in the half. A corner kick by forward Tanya Samarzich was headed by midfielder Kaitlin Miller and turned up just high of the goal but spurred the Cats offense into motion. In the 78th minute, Samarzich scored off a free kick just outside area.

The Rebels answered, however, with an 84th minute goal by midfielder Liza Harbin in give and go fashion off a corner kick.

In the first overtime both teams were held scoreless by strong defense from the goalkeepers, sending the game to double overtime. Only 1 minute in, Ole Miss forward Alley Houghton scored the winning goal off a set piece just outside the 18.

“I thought that was one of the best games we played this season and Ole Miss, credit to them, put away their chances when they were given them,” Miller said. “It’s going to start coming for us if we continue to play this hard and train this hard to push ourselves.” 

The loss brought UK’s record down to a 4-6-2 overall record and only 0-4-1 in conference play. The Cats are staying in Lexington for their next game against the Auburn Tigers on Thursday at 7:30 p.m..