Sept. 15, 2002
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The last time the Northwestern women's soccer team scored a goal and still lost the match, second-year head coach Jenny Haigh was an assistant at Missouri.
The Wildcats went 8-0-1 when scoring in 2001, and through four matches this season they had won both times they found the back of the net.
On Sunday, though, an opening goal was not enough against 19th-ranked Kentucky as UK prevailed in a battle of Wildcats, 2-1.
The match was pushed back more than an hour due to heavy rains in Lexington, but when it was played it proved to be an even match. Kentucky outshot NU, 8-7.
"I felt like we played hard today, but we made some mistakes and they capitalized in the second half," said Haigh. "The mistakes we made are easily fixable, but a good team like Kentucky is going to take advantage. Today, they did."
Northwestern drew first blood in the 33rd minute when freshman Julie Lipinski (Tinley Park, Ill./Marian Catholic) notched her first collegiate goal. Off an Aileen Guiney (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) corner kick, Carolyn Hack (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) got a head on it and it went straight to Lipinski, who pushed it into the goal.
Of NU's seven goals this season, four have come from freshmen and the other three from sophomore Ashleigh Garmon (Oxnard, Calif./Buena).
Kentucky was not able to draw level until the second half, but they worked quickly to turn their deficit into a lead. Courtney Pollock headed in a cross from Elizabeth Ramsey at the 65:03 mark, and less than three minutes later the UK 'Cats went up for good when Kara McCue took a cross from Christal Mattingly and beat goalkeeper Susie McCreery (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South).
McCreery finished the day with two saves, while Kentucky keeper Liz Butler did not have to make a stop in the match.
Life does not get any easier for Northwestern, which has played three ranked teams on the road in its first five matches. The Wildcats return home next weekend, but they play defending Big Ten champion Penn State Friday afternoon before meeting Ohio State Sunday.
MATCH SUMMARY
Score by Half
NU (2-2-1) 1 0 -- 1
Kentucky (4-2) 0 2 -- 2
Goal Summary
NU - Julie Lipinski (Carolyn Hack, Aileen Guiney), 32:27
UK - Courtney Pollock (Elizabeth Ramsey), 65:03
UK - Kara McCue (Christal Mattingly), 67:52
Shots: Kentucky 8, NU 7.
Corner Kicks: Kentucky 8, NU 5.
GK Saves: NU - Susie McCreery 2; UK - Liz Butler 0.