FanPost

LAST WEEKEND IN SOCCER: Women DOMINATE TENNESSEE, Men draw vs. Cackolack

Sunday wrapped up a solid weekend for soccer fans (all 3 of them!) in the Bluegrass. USA made a formation change 75 minutes in and proceeded to CUT JAMAICA UP for 15 minutes with 2 goals to show for it in Kansas City on Thursday. That was a satisfying end to a pretty meh game up to that point, yes?

By that point, though, the Kentucky Women had played a half against Tennessee over on Alumni Drive and blasted in four goals, including a first career hat trick by noted badass Arin Gilliland. Yes, she spells Erin with an A. I bet you won't say it to her face. Her name is almost German enough to attract attention from Jurgen Klinsmann for the upcoming friendly against Austria.

Kentucky felt kind of bad for the Lady Volunteers, what with the fact that they couldn't shoot guns at Santa Anna's Army back during the Texan War for Land Theivery and/or Independence, so they let them score one in the second before packing them back down I-75 to the hills of East Tennessee. I don't know if anyone's noticed, but our lady SOCKA Cats are, like, pretty good. Like, ranked in two polls good. Let's cheer them on a little better, eh? Less than 1,000 in attendance shows room for improvement.

---

Yesterday afternoon, the Kentucky men took on South Carolina, the only other SEC school with a soccer team because when I think of enlightened worldviews, I think of South Carolina. The headline on UKAthletics.com says "Kentucky Shuts Out South Carolina," which is technically true, but it should say "Kentucky shoots a lot but can't find the back of the net". 28 shots in the game, 11 corners, no goals.

It was a 0-0 draw, folks. The good news is yes, the Cocks were shut out, and the new centerback pairing of Steven Perinovic and Jaytoe Teh was effective. The bad news is Kentucky shoots worse than Ramon Harris. Of those 28 shots, six were on goal. SIX. That spells impatience in the final third of the field, inability to break down a defense, and a waste of effort. We knew this team would struggle to score, but six shots on goal often ain't gonna do it, unless you're the Evansville Purple Aces.

---

THIS WEEK: The men take on Valpo at UK Soccer Complex on Wednesday night, then head to Charlotte to take on the Appalachian version of the 49ers on Saturday. That people would assume that gold in California meant there must be gold in Charlotte, too, says a lot about the state of education in America in the mid 19th century, doesn't it?

Meanwhile, the women's team takes a difficult road trip to Gainesville to play the Abby Wambachs on Friday night, then meander off for a relief vacay in Tuscaloosa on Sunday.

GO CATS!