Bulldogs Sweep Weekend Matches, Beat Kentucky 3-1

ATHENS, Ga. --- The

Georgia

Bulldogs were able to pick up their first weekend sweep of the season as they used three second half goals to defeat the visiting Kentucky Wildcats 3-1 Sunday afternoon at the UGA Soccer Stadium.

The Sunday win follows up Friday night’s 2-0 win over Vanderbilt and is Georgia’s second Sunday victory of the season. It is also the first time Georgia has scored three goals or more since its 6-1 defeat of Alabama A&M in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The back-to-back wins is also a first for Georgia this season.

“It was a tremendous weekend for our young ladies from a result and performance standpoint,” head coach Patrick Baker said. “We have to get better and continue to refine our system. The non-conference teams have really helped us prepare for our conference opponents.”

All four games came in the second half, and the first half didn’t yield many quality scoring chances for either team. Georgia had the only shot on goal and each team would get off four shots each, while Georgia (5-8-1, 3-2-1 SEC) took the only corner kick of the first 45 minutes.

The pace of the second half was much better for both squads and the goal scoring began just more than one minute into the half. Georgia sophomore Caroline Simpson tried to receive a pass just inside the Kentucky 18-yard box, but a hard foul by the Kentucky defender set up a Georgia penalty kick, which was taken by Simpson. She easily converted by sending her attempt into the right corner of the net to give Georgia a quick 1-0 lead. Her conversion was the first of three penalty kick attempts for Georgia this season.

“We always practice setting up penalty kicks,” she said. “We had to get that in to get us started in the second half. We knew this was our game to win and we needed to get our second win of the weekend.”

The Wildcats (3-9-2, 1-4-1) would respond quickly. In the 55th minute, Ashley Stack set up a free kick from 25-yards out and a few yards inside of the far touchline. Her serve deflected off a Georgia defender and fell right to Nicola Holdsworth, who flicked the ball into the net from six yards out to tie the score.

The Bulldogs would quickly regain control of the game 1:29 later with their second goal of the game. After a failed clearance by Kentucky, senior Kristin Garman centered a pass to freshman Ashley Miller, who took a few dribbles and shot it past the Kentucky keeper from 15-yards out for a 2-1 lead. It was Miller’s third goal in the past four games and her fifth on the season.

“To go back ahead so quickly off a wonderful service from Kristin Garman and the quality of Ashley Miller’s finish was of the highest level,” Baker said. “It was good to see her score in back-to-back games and that helps take some pressure off of Carrie Patterson.”

The score would remain the same for nearly the rest of the half. But when Patterson tried to kill the clock by dribbling the ball to the corner, a Kentucky defender attempted to clear it up the field, but the ball hit Patterson and deflected straight into the air. Patterson then settled it and passed to a wide open Alex Hooker, who finished the scoring by netting the first goal of her career with only three seconds left.

The assist by Patterson was the 17th of her career, which moved her into a tie for 4th place in Georgia history, and the 77th point of her career. She is just one point shy of tying the all-time points record of 78 held by Mandy Aiken.

The results were strong for the Bulldogs this weekend, coming away with two quality wins, and Baker has been pleased with the progress of his team in all of its facets.

“I feel like our overall team defending and the back four’s ability to make plays is really coming around. Megan Tomlinson and Bailey Powell really do a great job for us centrally and Kelli Corless and Garman have done a nice job of defending and starting our attack,” he said. “The three freshmen in the midfield I could not be more proud of and for Alex Hooker to get her first collegiate goal today was icing on the cake. We must now prepare for a difficult road trip to Mississippi.”

Up next, the Bulldogs will hit the road for a two games against Mississippi schools next weekend. On Friday, Georgia will face Mississippi State at 8 p.m. ET. On Sunday, the Bulldogs will travel to Oxford, Miss., for a 2 p.m. ET game with Ole Miss.

University of Georgia Athletics

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