Women’s soccer scores big against Butler

By Katherine Stach

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“Are you kidding me! How is that a foul on us?” yelled Coach Jon Lipsitz from the sideline as the UK Women’s soccer team received one of its eight total fouls in a charged matchup against the Butler Bulldogs Sunday night.

The eight foul calls proved to be no obstacle for the Cats, as they finished the game on top with a 4-1 win over the Bulldogs.

The Cats’ defense proved to be a powerhouse once again as it held the Bulldogs to just six shots, while UK tallied 13.

Defender Cara Ledman, who scored one of the Cats’ four goals unassisted, said that watching film during practice has helped the team’s defensive abilities.

“We know how the players play, and when to step to the forwards, and we overall did a really great job with that tonight,” Ledman said.

Forward Jane Klump was also able to find the back of the net. Klump, who scored through a double-deflection into the box that just missed Butler’s keeper, was assisted by midfielder Katy Keen.

Klump said the team worked extensively on pushing the ball forward during past practices, which really paid off during this game.

“This whole week in practice we’ve really been focusing on forward movements and motions, which really helped our offensive ability throughout this game,” Klump said.

The other two scorers for the Cats were forwards Michaela Dooley and Tanya Samarzich.

Going into the 30th minute, Dooley was able to open up scoring for the Cats with an impressive header off a corner from Kaitlin Miller.

Samarzich cinched the final goal of the game with merely two and a half minutes left. Samarzich was assisted with a quick ball from Cara Ledman.

Butler’s lone goal came at the 76th minute mark as Breann Pempek got the ball at the top of the box and beat a defender for the goal.

The Cats will face Missouri at home on Friday, September 25 at 7:30 p.m. The team hopes to maintain its 2-0 Southeastern Conference play record.