UK women’s soccer posts shutout, gets two goals from Samarzich

Junior forward Tanya Samarzich scored two goals and freshman goalkeeper Evangeline Soucie earned a shutout as the University of Kentucky women’s soccer team defeated High Point 3-0 at the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex in Lexington on Sunday.

With the victory, Kentucky improved to 2-2-1 on the season.

Samarzich has scored three goals in the last two games for Kentucky. She also scored the equalizer on Friday night as part of Kentucky’s come-from-behind 3-1 win at Louisville.

“What happened today was, we’re playing a great team but we found ourself against Louisville,” UK Coach John Lipsitz said. “We were playing harder, fighting for the ball more. When you have the ball more, you end up with more opportunities.”

Kentucky fired the first four shots of the match inside the first 15 minutes of play before Samarzich started their scoring in the 16th minute. Zoe Swift played the ball from the right side in the air from about 30 yards perfectly weighted to the near post, where Samarzich was making a slashing run and Samarzich’s header was pushed past keeper Alex Hank.

The Wildcats doubled their lead just before halftime as Kalli Vogel, who was on the field for the first time as a Kentucky player, scored in the 42nd minute. Vogel was played a ball from Swift, who picked up her second assist in the match, and finished it past the keeper. Vogel, a freshman, was on the field for just 25 seconds before her goal.

Kentucky got an insurance goal in the 71st minute from Samarzich. She scored off a great ball from freshman Gina Crosetti after a turnover just outside the 18-yard box.

Soucie picked up her first shutout as a Wildcat, making four saves in the match. Under the direction of Ian Carry, she has a goals against average below 2.00 for the first time since opening weekend.

One of the best signs for Kentucky was a season-high 19 shots, as 13 players took at least one. Midfielder and senior captain Kaitlin Miller and Samarzich led the charge with three each.

Kentucky will next host fifth-ranked Florida at 7 p.m. Thursday in a nationally-televised match (SEC Network).

This story was originally published September 4, 2016 at 7:40 PM with the headline "UK women’s soccer posts shutout, gets two goals from Samarzich."