Behind outstanding goalkeeping from Taylor Vancil and second half goals from Caitlin Rehder and Angelika Uremovich, the 18th-ranked Louisville women’s soccer team improved to 5-0 for the first time in school history with a 2-0 triumph over rival Kentucky in front of a regular-season school record crowd of 2,643 on Thursday night at Cardinal Park.
The five straight wins to open the season for the Cardinals surpassed the program’s previous best start of 4-0 during the 2007 season, which culminated with an NCAA Tournament berth. With Thursday’s loss, which was televised nationally by FOX Soccer Channel, Kentucky dropped to 3-2 on the season.
“It’s a fantastic start to the season for us,” said Louisville head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes. “This is a wonderful and emotional game with an in-state rival and it’s one of the best college sports rivalries in history, so it’s nice for our kids to be part of it. A lot of our freshmen don’t understand it, but after 90 minutes tonight, I think they can understand it now. The crowd was amazing tonight and it was fantastic. This is what college sports is all about.”
Vancil, a sophomore from South Elgin, Ill., was the story for much of the game for the Cardinals with her terrific play in goal. After finishing with a pair of key saves in the first half, the St. Charles High School product finished with five more stops in the second half, including three in a span of six seconds in the 51st minute of a scoreless game. She made the first save moving to her left on a shot by Jenna Oblirsch, followed that with a kick save to her right on a shot by Caitlin Landis and then concluded the electrifying trio of stops with a diving stab back to her left on a shot by Kelsey Hunyadi.
“I actually turned to our staff and I asked them if there were two of her in goal because I’ve seen her make that save to her right at least once, but not back to her left like that,” said Ferguson-Dayes. “She’s a big-time keeper and those were some big-time saves.”
Overall, Vancil earned her third shutout of the season and the sixth of her career. Earlier this season, Vancil was named MVP of the Gamecock Courtyard Cup after she posted shutout wins over then-No. 13 South Carolina and Bucknell.
“Most of them come and go so fast I don’t remember what I did, but we kept them off the board and we won and that’s all I care about,” said Vancil on her performance in goal on Thursday night. “This was a fun win, but we definitely want to keep our heads level and get focused on our next game at Saint Louis.”
With Vancil keeping the Wildcats off the scoreboard, Louisville broke through for the game-winner in the 69th minute as Rehder (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West HS) found herself in the right place at the right time on a loose ball in front of the UK goal and sent it past Wildcats’ goalkeeper Sydney Hiance for the 1-0 advantage. Freshman Jordan Pawlik (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger HS) started the scoring chance with an offensive push deep into the 18-yard box, but then lost the ball as she was knocked to the ground by a UK defender. However, Rehder quickly pounced on the loose ball for her second goal of the season and the seventh of her career.
“The crowd was phenomenal and I’m so appreciative that they came out to be here for this game,” said Rehder. “They were loud and wearing red and it showed how important the game was for us.”
The score remained that way until the 89th minute when Uremovich (Oakville, Ont./St. Ignatius of Loyola) scored on the second of her back-to-back shots inside the Kentucky 18-yard box for the final 2-0 margin. After Hiance stopped her first shot, Uremovich gathered the rebound on the right side of the goal and sent it into the lower left corner for her team-leading fourth goal of the season.
Overall, Louisville was out-shot 21-18 by Kentucky, but the Cardinals finished with a 12-7 advantage on shots-on-goal. Louisville also had a 9-7 edge in corner kicks, while Kentucky was whistled for 10 fouls to the Cardinals’ five.
Louisville’s second half charge followed a scoreless first half, in which the Cardinals’ controlled in many areas. U of L held a 9-7 advantage in shots, including a 6-2 edge in shots-on-goal in the first half. Louisville also finished with a 4-3 edge in corner kicks while being whistled for four fouls compared to the Wildcats’ two.
Hiance turned away six Louisville shots in the first half, including shots by Rehder in the fifth minute and 43rd minute, shots by Uremovich in the 20th, 23rd and 38th minutes and a shot by sophomore Courtney Holtz (Peoria, Ill./Peoria HS) in the 27th minute.
Up next, Louisville returns to the road for a non-conference matchup at Saint Louis on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
