UK women's soccer head coach Jon Lipsitz announced his 2012 signing class on Thursday, which was tabbed in the top five nationally. Hear what Lipsitz said about his new Wildcats at the press conference Friday.

Kentucky women's soccer had a banner 2011, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006. The season was full of big wins and exciting moments and now head coach Jon Lipsitz is asking fans to help select the best goal from 2011.

The video above shows the five goals, as well as commentary from Lipsitz, but you can head to this link to cast your vote once you've watched.

Here are the five nominees:

Cassie Ransdell vs. Louisville
Kelsey Hunyadi vs. Baylor
Natalie Horner vs. Tennessee
Caitlin Landis vs. South Carolina
Kelsey Hunyadi vs. Alabama

While occupying his post in charge of Cat Scratches, Eric Lindsey debuted the Scratchies, a set of awards given for the best performances in UK Athletics for the preceding semester. I wasn't sure at first whether I would continue the tradition, but once I found just how quiet it gets around here during the holidays, I decided it was time to give out some hardware (or maybe I should say "software", since there are no physical awards to be given).

I'll spare you any more preambles, here are the winners for fall 2011:

MVW (Most Valuable Wildcat)
Danny Trevathan (Football) - No, the UK football team did not have the kind of season they envisioned, going 5-7, but Trevathan could not have done any more than he did to help his team succeed. For the second year in a row, the linebacker led the SEC in tackles. The senior linebacker concludes his career ranked 10th all-time in tackles in program history and has reeled in multiple postseason honors for his stellar final season. The 2011 campaign saw Trevathan log 143 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, four interceptions and three sacks.

The Dream Team (team of the semester)
Volleyball - Craig Skinner has this program on the rise. The Wildcats finished the season with a 26-4 record and a second Sweet 16 berth in three seasons. The regional semifinal was hosted in Memorial Coliseum and over 4,000 rowdy fans showed up to support the Cats as they nearly pulled an upset of Texas, the nation's No. 1 overall seed, before falling 3-1. The atmosphere, though not the outcome, was a fitting sendoff for the most decorated group of seniors in school history. The trio of Ann Armes, Becky Pavan and Gretchen Giesler depart with a record of 100-31 and the best winning percentage (.731) in school history).

In spite of losing those three, UK figures to build on a great season in 2012. Two-time defending Southeastern Conference Libero of the Year and second-team All-American Stephanie Klefot returns for her senior season and will be joined by setter Christine Hartmann and outside hitter Whitney Billings, both of whom were first-team All-SEC performers. Senior-to-be Ashley Frazier (All-SEC second team) and rising sophomore Lauren O'Conner (All-SEC freshman team) will also be very much in the mix.

Honorable mention: Women's soccer, men's basketball, women's basketball

The Adolph Rupp Award (coach of the semester)
Jon Lipsitz (Women's soccer) - Since taking over at Kentucky prior to the 2009 season, Lipsitz has built the women's soccer program in small strides. UK was just 5-10-4 in his first year, but it was clear that the culture was changing. His second season brought a trip to the SEC Tournament, but expectations were still not particularly high entering 2011, at least not outside of Lexington. Instead, the Cats got off to a great start, piling up early-season wins and moving into the top 20 of the RPI.

Under Lipsitz's guidance, Senior Kelsey Hunyadi was at the center of everything, as she had one of the best offensive seasons in UK history in helping lead the team to a 13-7-1 record, a winning mark in SEC play and a berth in UK's first NCAA Tournament since 2006. Kentucky also earned the right to host a tournament game for the first time since 1998 and the fan base responded to the excitement Lipsitz has injected into the program, as 1,065 fans attended the game, third-most of the 32 first round sites nationally.

Honorable mention: Craig Skinner (volleyball), Matthew Mitchell (women's basketball), John Calipari (men's basketball)

The Josh Harrellson Award (most improved player)
Samantha Drake (women's basketball) - The Bardstown, Ky., native had her moments as a freshman, but was not expected to be more than a role player for UK Hoops in 2011-12. Through the first five games of the season, that's exactly what she was, as she averaged 5.4 points. Over Drake's next seven games as UK rose to a No. 6 national ranking, the 6-foot-3 center established herself as one of Matthew Mitchell's most reliable contributors.

She has scored in double figures six times during the stretch, including a career-high 21 points in a trip to face No. 3 Notre Dame and 18 last week against Samford.

"It was not one moment, but it started happening one day then started snowballing," Mitchell said of her improvement. "There was a play here, then the next day she would make two or three. It was pretty dramatic.

"She had a terrific summer and I just tried to put it to her, 'There's nothing that you can't get through.' Finally she proved to herself she can really perform at a high level."

As UK enters SEC play, Mitchell will look to Drake to sustain that improvement.

The Butler-VCU Award (surprise team)
Women's soccer - For all the reasons Lipsitz is the coach of the semester, women's soccer is the surprise team. The Cats clearly had talent with Hunyadi, star incoming freshman Arin Gilliland and others, but this year's team was supposed to be one that battled to make the bottom half of the SEC Tournament bracket. Instead, UK raced out to a 7-0-0 start to the year and never looked back in earning a No. 6 seed in Orange Beach, Ala., and a home match in the NCAA Tournament, where the Wildcats lost in heartbreaking fashion on penalty kicks against Washington State.

One Shining Moment (best moment)


Football ends the streak - This one's a no-brainer. It had been over a quarter-century since Kentucky had defeated Tennessee in football and when wide receiver Matt Roark stepped onto the field as quarterback with Maxwell Smith and Morgan Newton sidelined due to injury, it certainly looked as if the streak would continue. Instead, Roark led a gritty offense that did just enough to win thanks to a staunch defensive effort by a group of seniors who desperately wanted to defeat the Volunteers. The 10-7 win set off a raucous celebration, capped off when Roark served as the honorary 'Y' at Rupp Arena that same night.

The "Band is Out On the Field" Award (best game/match)
Men's basketball beats North Carolina - The hype for UK-UNC started way back in May when Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Tyler Zeller decided to return to their respective schools. It was clear the Cats and Tar Heels would be ranked atop the polls when the season started, setting up a potential No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown in Rupp Arena in early December. UNC lost to undo that possibility, but that was the only part of the game that didn't live up to the hype.

UK trailed by as many as nine points early, but battled back to take a late lead in front of a delirious sellout crowd. The Cats seemed poised to seal the win, but the Heels forced a turnover by Doron Lamb and got a 3-pointer from Reggie Bullock to cut UT's lead to 73-72. Marquis Teague was then fouled and headed to the foul line for a one-and-one. He missed the front end with 21 seconds left, setting up a chance for UNC to take the last shot for the win. UK would hold on, but only because of our play of the semester...

The Doug Flutie Hail Mary Award (best play)



Davis' block seals win over UNC - Point guard Kendall Marshall ran the clock down and used a screen to position himself for a pass to Zeller inside. As they had been doing all game, the Cats sent a double team at him and Zeller lost the ball, but conveniently right into the waiting hands of Henson. He pulled up for a short jumper, but Anthony Davis skied to get a piece of the shot and grabbed the rebound off his own block. UK would then run out the final five seconds.
Video

All-Wildcat Team (the Scratchies equivalent of the All-America Team)
Kelsey Hunyadi (women's soccer) - Her 38 points were the second most in school history.
Luis Orta (cross country) - With a fifth-place finish at the SEC Championships, Orta became UK's first first-team All-SEC performer since 2003.
Stephanie Klefot (volleyball) - The junior was a second-team All-American and won SEC Libero of the Year for the second year in a row.
Matt Lodge (men's soccer) - Lodge tallied seven goals and 10 assists during his junior season.
Doron Lamb (men's basketball) - He is the leading scorer (16.1 points per game) for the nation's third-ranked team.
Winston Guy (football) - Moving to a new linebacker position, Guy had 120 tackles and a team-leading 14 tackles for loss.
A'dia Mathies (women's basketball) - Now healthy, the junior guard has already eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her UK career.

All-Calipari Team (all-freshman team)
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (men's basketball) - Averaging 13.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks through 12 games.
Anthony Davis (men's basketball) - Leads UK with 10.0 rebounds per game and ranks among nation's leaders with 52 blocks.
Arin Gilliland (women's soccer) - Blue-chip prospect split time between defense and attack, scoring four goals.
Bria Goss (women's basketball) - Has started 11 games, averaging 12.3 points and 5.1 rebounds.
Lauren O'Conner (volleyball) - Played in 124 of 126 sets on the season, totaling 284 kills and was named to SEC All-Freshman team.

All-Up-and-Comers (non-freshmen on the rise)
Ashley Frazier (volleyball) - Played her first season at UK after transferring, leading the team with 406 kills.
Christina Hartmann (volleyball) - Took over setting duties early in the season and was a first-team All-SEC performer.
Cody Martin (men's golf) - Led UK with an average round of 72.6 as a sophomore and finished second in the UK Bluegrass Fall Invitational.
Alejando Gomez (men's tennis) - Off to a running start to sophomore season with a 15-2 singles mark during the fall season.
Greg Ferrucci (swimming and diving) - Sophomore twice won SEC Diver of the Week during the fall, breaking a school record in the one-meter dive in the process.
Tyler Riggs (men's soccer) - Followed up good freshman season with an even better sophomore year, totaling 11 goals and five assists.

Best Streak Award
Men's basketball's home win streak - With eight wins in Rupp Arena to open 2011-12, UK has extended its home winning streak to 42 games, eclipsing Duke (41) for the longest in the nation. Kentucky has yet to lose a home game with John Calipari roaming the sidelines, winning all 41 games in Rupp during his three-year tenure.

He said what? (quote of the semester)
Craig Skinner, after volleyball played No. 1 Texas to a near draw in the Sweet 16 in front of over 4,000 fans in Memorial Coliseum - "I think that's about as high a level of volleyball as you can play. If you aren't excited to play in front of a crowd like that and with a group that puts their heart and soul into the game then I'd be stunned. We're on the right path and we have to continue to take steps forward and this team is so motivated that I'm not worried that won't happen."

The Dougie Award (best dance/celebration)
Matthew Mitchell at Big Blue Madness - Mitchell's dance in the video below pretty much speaks for itself. The only remaining question is how he's going to top himself in 2012.

With a big weekend for both UK Hoops and volleyball coming up, John Clay from the Lexington Herald-Leader spent time in his column today examining the recent success of UK's women's programs.

Volleyball will playing in Sweet 16 beginning Friday, while Matthew Mitchell's basketball team is ranked in the top 10 nationally and facing No. 6/5 Duke in Rupp Arena Thursday evening. The two teams follow the strong seasons of Jon Lipsitz's soccer team (first NCAA Tournament in five years) and Rachel Lawson's softball Cats (advanced to NCAA Super Regionals this spring).

In particular, Clay discusses the relationship between Mitchell and volleyball head coach Craig Skinner's, whose offices are both located in the Joe Craft Center:

Both coaches have rebuilt programs that had fallen on hard times.

After two straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, including an Elite Eight berth in 2010, Mitchell now boasts a top-10 team. Skinner is making his seventh straight NCAA tourney appearance since arriving on campus in 2005.

"Craig and I are good friends and we're in closer proximity with our offices so we have a little bit closer relationship," Mitchell said. "He and I are spending a lot of time together and talk about the different things that go on, so there is a real sense of community here at Kentucky.

"And I credit Mr. (Mitch) Barnhart for that. He cares just as much about what's happening with the soccer team as he does with the softball team," Mitchell said. "It's a lot of fun to be a part of, I can tell you that."

LINK: Thursday, Friday more of the same for powerful UK women's teams

James Pennington of CatsPause.com has been working for weeks on a profile of Kentucky women's soccer coach Jon Lipsitz. On Wednesday, the article was published.

It's an outstanding look at the man who took the Wildcats to an NCAA berth in just three seasons that I really encourage you to read, whether you're a soccer fan or not. Lipsitz is one of the most enjoyable coaches to cover I can imagine and Pennington's piece does an excellent job of capturing his essence.

Here is an excerpt, but again, I strongLY urge you to give the entire thing a read:


JON LIPSITZ: A CHAMPION OF CIRCUMSTANCE

Another November weekend is in the books, and with it another eight Kentucky athletic events. This past weekend featured season openers for both men's and women's basketball, a pair of Southeastern Conference matches for volleyball, NCAA play for women's soccer and cross country, and a rifle trip to Columbus, Ohio.

Believe it or not, the next week is going to top it.

There are no UK events on Monday, but Tuesday begins a six-day stretch during which at least one Wildcat team will be in action each day with 12 total events going on. Included in that timeframe is this Saturday, when men's basketball, football and women's basketball will all play games within a five-hour span. I'll be trying to offer some help in preparing for that as the week goes on, but in the mean time, let's run down some of the biggest storylines for this Monday morning:

-The toughest loss of the weekend came in women's soccer's penalty kick heartbreaker in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Washington State. The Wildcats surged to a first-half lead on a Kelsey Hunyadi goal, but yielded the equalizer in the early in the second half. In spite of opportunities for both sides, neither team managed a goal in the final 34 minutes of regulation nor 20 minutes of overtime, so the outcome was left to be decided by penalty kicks. The Wildcats missed their first two tries and fell 4-2. It was as disappointing a loss as a team can have, but UK still had a tremendous season and has a bright future ahead. Jon Lipsitz has the program on the right track and though top scorer Hunyadi has exhausted her eligibility, UK loses just two seniors of this year's team.

-I don't know about you, but I was pretty excited to see the college hoops season tip off at long last. The men's team overcame a sluggish start against Marist, coasting to a 108-58 victory behind Anthony Davis' double-double. UK is now looking toward a matchup with Kansas 9 p.m. Tuesday in the Champions Classic played at Madison Square Garden. The Jayhawks are ranked in the top 15 of both polls at this point and figure to test another young John Calipari team. The Cats fly to New York City later today, but before then Calipari and a few of his players will be available to talk to the media. I'll have video and a story later this afternoon.

-Matthew Mitchell and UK Hoops got off to a similarly sluggish start in their opener, trailing 32-31 at halftime on the road against Morehead State. The Cats, though, shot a blazing 20-of-29 from the field in a 65-point second half explosion en route to a 96-60 win. Kastine Evans led the way for No. 18 UK with a career-high 23 points, who play their home opener Tuesday at 11 a.m. We'll have video of Mitchell later today and a live blog of the action tomorrow.

-Volleyball took care of business in two key road matches this weekend, dispatching Alabama in straight sets and withstanding Ole Miss in a five-set thriller to move to 15-2 in conference play. With three games remaining in SEC play, UK trails Tennessee by a game in the standings. The Wildcats have two home matches this weekend against LSU and Arkansas and if they win both and the Lady Volunteers win their next two matches, it will set up a showdown in Knoxville, Tenn., next Wednesday with the SEC title on the line. UK defeated UT once already in Lexington, Ky., so the Wildcats would own the tiebreaker if they beat Tennessee a second time. The Wildcats set a goal of winning the conference title from the beginning of the season and are exactly where they want to be: in control of their own destiny.

They say winning is everything. That is true in some instances, but not all.

Saturday night at a chilly and blustery UK Soccer Complex, the Kentucky women's soccer team fell to Washington State 4-2 in a penalty shootout after battling for 110 minutes to a 1-1 tie. It was the Wildcats' eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament first round and it was the eighth time they exited after just one game.

But this time is different.

With three years in the books for UK head coach Jon Lipsitz, the future is bright. Scratch that, the future is very bright. The Wildcats' record has improved steadily in each of Lipsitz' three seasons at the helm, culminating in this year's 13-7 season that saw Kentucky host an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in 12 years.

"It hurts," Lipsitz said. "The only people that can feel how much this hurts are the people that put this much into something and have been in these moments in athletics. They know what it feels like. It's very, very difficult. But, we're proud of where we are and I'm very proud of this team."

Exhausted with the remnants of dried tears on their faces following the emotional loss, seniors Kelsey Hunyadi and Kiondra McGee sat at the podium in the postgame media room starring into space. They will not play again for Kentucky, but 18 of the 21 players on Kentucky's roster will.

"One of the things I said to Kiondra and Kelsey is that, 'I'm so glad you guys got to play in the NCAA's, because otherwise it would have been you guys coming back in future years and me saying to you, look what you did. Look at this. This is you. You did this,' " Lipsitz said. "It sure is a lot more fun to say, 'You did this and you got to play in the NCAA's.' "

Lipsitz and Kentucky stood toe to toe with a talented Washington State squad and fell just short of making program history by advancing to the second round. But if you had said at the beginning of the year that Kentucky would go to the NCAA Tournament at all, much less host a game in the first round, many people would have called you crazy.

"I can't put into words how proud I am of this group," Lipsitz said. "This is a team that was put at next to last in the preseason SEC poll. It's a team that nobody outside of our team felt that we'd have a chance to play in the NCAA. To get to host for the first time since 1999 was incredibly exciting and we deserved it. There were really wonderful moments. I'm sure there will be times in the future where we look back and remember what a wonderful stepping-stone this was for the program."

And that's ultimately how Lipsitz and the rest of the Kentucky women's soccer program will look at the game; as a stepping stone. They are proud of hosting an NCAA Tournament game and defying all preseason expectations, but Lipsitz isn't just excited about the future being so bright, he's excited about what they did this year.

"One of the reasons we're so excited for the future is because of how far we got this year," Lipsitz said. "We came further than we were supposed to. We're excited because of now, not because of the future."

There's an old adage about reaching goals while keeping an eye on the past. To reach unprecedented heights, you cannot forget where you came from and what got you there.

For the University of Kentucky women's soccer program, these words ring especially true.

"We are just starting where we want to go," head coach Jon Lipsitz said. "We are not where we want to be in the long run, but we are where we want to be today."

For Lipsitz and the Wildcats, Saturday night's NCAA Tournament first round match against Washington State will be the culmination of three years of hard work. A relatively young program, Saturday's game marks just the eighth time in the program's history that it has even qualified for the NCAA Tournament, and it will be the first time Kentucky has hosted a game since 1999.

In Lipsitz's first season at the helm of the program, the Wildcats went 5-10-4. One year later, Kentucky improved to 10-7-3. Then this year, the Wildcats improved again, going 13-7 and ranking inside the top 25 in the RPI for much of the season.

With first-time accomplishments already in hand and the program's future becoming brighter with every dribble of the ball, it would be easy for the team to become complacent.

"You can look at them. They are not satisfied," Lipsitz said. "In fact, my concern has nothing to do with them being satisfied, it has to do with them handling the moment because of how excited they are."

Being excited isn't necessarily a bad thing. While many coaches will shun the idea of players being aware of their place in history, Lipsitz embraces it.

"It's a great thing," Lipsitz said. "I'm proud of them that they understand historically that while this isn't the final step, this is an important first step."

And that is the key point; this is a first step in their eyes. The ultimate goal is to win conference championships and have NCAA Tournament berths become an expected accomplishment. But just as Rome was not built in a single day, so too do Lipsitz and the Cats know lifting their program to where they believe it belongs will take time.

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, the head man couldn't help but reminisce and talk about how far he and the program had come. He talked about sitting in the same chair as three years prior when he was hired. He also talked about feeling as though he and the program were finally "doing (their) part" when it comes to contributing to the overall athletic department's place in the Presidential Cup standings.

"I have felt many times in the last few years that we are not doing our part," Lipsitz said. "We are not getting points from the NCAA because we are not making the postseason. It's nice to know we are pulling our weight, and it's nice to know we are meeting our expectations, because the expectations here are high, as they should be. That feels great, it really does."

A victory over Washington State would feel even better. For a season that has featured so many firsts and has seen so many walls torn down, it would only be fitting for the 2011 Wildcats to enhance their legacy even more - become the first team in program history to win an NCAA Tournament game.

"It's very clear they understand their place in history," Lipsitz said. "We talk about legacy so much. We talk about doing this for the alumni. We talk about doing this for the kids who come after (them). I guess I didn't realize until that moment how much they have taken that to heart. They know. They know this is special. They also know that UK women's soccer has never won an NCAA game. We haven't talked about that. They know. They understand that this is a moment where they can make history that nobody can take away from them."

With Kentucky's NCAA Tournament opener against Washington State just two days away, women's soccer head coach Jon Lipsitz spoke in the media room at Memorial Coliseum. It was the first time he had spoken there since his introductory press conference three years ago.

"It's nice to remember that," Lipsitz said. "It's been a climb ever since then and it's been a lot of hard work by some wonderful people, the players and the staff, and a lot of support by everybody that works with us in the administration that got us to where I'm sitting back in this chair."

Hosting a tournament game for the first time since 1999, the Wildcats are working hard for Saturday's game.

"We're just starting again," Lipsitz said. "We're not where we want to be in the long run but we're where we want to be today. We've been working very hard this week training very hard for a very good Washington State team."

We will have a story later this afternoon or tomorrow morning previewing this weekend's game, but in the mean time enjoy this video of Lipsitz talking about a match many are calling "the most evenly matched first round game" according to Lipsitz.