Women’s soccer in SEC battle

By Brandon Thomas

[email protected]

After being backed into a corner, the UK women’s soccer team came out clawing on senior night against Vanderbilt. The team not only earned its seniors one last victory at home but also clenched a birth to the Southeastern Conference tournament.

With the win on Friday, UK (10-7-2, 4-5-2 SEC) finds itself as the seventh seed and will take on the South Carolina Gamecocks Wednesday at 1 p.m.

The Cats faced South Carolina earlier this season on Sept. 26 and lost to the Gamecocks 5-1 in Lexington. Despite having lost to South Carolina earlier in the year, UK head coach Jon Lipsitz likes his team’s chance of advancing in the tournament.

The recent offensive firepower is one reason the Cats hold high hopes for the quarterfinal match against South Carolina. In the past two matches, UK has netted 11 goals while allowing only two to be scored. Conversely, South Carolina has only registered one goal in the past two matches while giving up one.

The winner of the UK-South Carolina match will face the winner of the LSU-Tennessee game on Friday at 5 p.m.