By Bobby Reagan

The football team wasn’t the only UK team to dominate Mid-American Conference opposition this weekend.

The women’s soccer team swept two MAC foes, beating Bowling Green 4-0 on Friday and Ohio University 4-2 yesterday.

UK applied constant offensive pressure early in the game against Ohio, and the Cats finally were able to capitalize 13 minutes into the game when two junior defenders found each other. Tara Herold sent a corner kick into the box, where Kate Hughes placed a header to the right side of the net.

“I don’t get many scoring chances playing center back, so when I get up there I want to put one in,” Hughes said.

Ohio answered at the 26-minute mark, when senior midfielder Callie Broomfield picked up a loose ball inside the 6-yard box and fired a shot that slid under the arms of UK freshman keeper Laura Baker. The goal was the first of the season for the Bobcats.

After a battling the Bobcats in the first half, the Cats came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, as they scored twice in 44 seconds.

UK junior midfielder Nicola Holdsworth found the back of the net just 3:30 into the second half. Sophomore midfielder/defender Julie Hull made a run down the left sideline before crossing the ball to freshman forward Laura Novikoff, who was able to get her head on it. Ohio sophomore keeper Dominique Wright deflected the ball to a waiting Holdsworth, who easily tapped in her first goal of the season.

“Coach told us at halftime to fix the kinks and work on our distribution in the second half,” Hughes said. “We really upped the work rate, which helped us the first 10 minutes and caught Ohio off guard.”

Less than a minute later, it was Novikoff’s turn to get her name in the scorebook as senior forward Sarah Gaunt dropped her a pass. Novikoff collected the ball 30 yards away from the goal and made a shot that slipped through Wright’s fingertips before sailing into the top right corner of the net.

“I was thinking about crossing it, but I saw the keeper — who just subbed in at the start of the half — off her line a little bit, and decided to take a shot,” Novikoff said. “I guess it turned out pretty good.”

The goal was this season’s fourth for Novikoff, who leads the team.

“I’ve just tried to go out and work out as hard as I can,” Novikoff said. “Luckily, the goals have been coming.”

The Bobcats cut UK’s lead to 3-2 with 12 minutes left when junior midfielder Erika Schmitt rifled a 25-yard shot over the outstretched hands of Baker. Broomfield, who tallied Ohio’s earlier goal, notched an assist on the scoring play.

Senior forward Callie Lanphier secured the win with 3 minutes left in the match, scoring her third goal of the season. Senior midfielder Megan Jones slid a pass to Lanphier, who caught the goalie out of position and buried a 10-yard shot.

The Cats began the weekend by defeating Bowling Green 4-0 on Friday. Freshman forward Alicia Browning had two goals in the game against the Falcons. Novikoff and Lanphier provided the other goals.

The Cats’ next match takes them to Huntington, W.Va., to face Marshall University on Sunday at 2 p.m.