Women’s soccer looks for turnaround season
The UK Women’s soccer team plays Ole Miss at the Soccer and Softball complex on Thursday night, Oct. 21, 2009. Photo by Adam Wolffbrandt
August 26, 2010
After a sub-par season last year in which the women’s soccer team finished 5-10-4 and missed the postseason, the Cats look to rebound and have a successful season this year.
UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said the improvement will have to start with recruiting.
“Our main point of recruiting was to create a dramatic improvement on our athleticism,” Lipsitz said. “As a result of this considerable increase of athleticism, the players are stronger and more fit.”
Proof of the increase in athleticism can be found in the 4-0 season opening win over Coastal Carolina on Aug. 21. It was the first time UK scored four goals since 2008.
Lipsitz says that the team worked very hard on making their scoring attack more creative and he noticed how enjoyable it has been to watch the team follow that mindset.
“We spent a lot of time on varying our attack on how we can score,” Lipsitz said. “It feels good as a coach to know that the plan has paid off.”
Junior forward Kelsey Hunyadi, who redshirted last year, stole the show in the opener against Coastal Carolina. Hunyadi scored two of the Wildcat’s four goals, both coming in the first half. Freshman Taylor Parker added a goal, the first of her career, and Caitlin Landis capped the scoring in the 74th minute.
Hunyadi will be expected to have more performances like the season opener because she is looked up to as a leader on the team.
“The team expects a lot from Kelsey Hunyadi because they picked her as team captain,” Lipsitz said.
“We do not talk about wins a losses, we just worry about getting better as a team,” Lipsitz said. “We focus on what we can control by setting goals on our players being the best they can be.”
Lipsitz, going into his second year as coach of the Wildcats, said the players’ familiarity with the game plan has increased over the past year.
