Kentucky Men's Soccer Pulls Off Another Upset With 1-0 Win Over No. 2 West Virginia

How ’bout them ‘Cats?

Kentucky Men’s Soccer (5-6-4, 2-3-3 Sun Belt) faced off against fellow conference squad West Virginia (11-1-4, 4-1-3 Sun Belt), which came into the match ranked No. 2 in the country, at The Bell in Lexington on Friday night. The Wildcats were coming off of a huge upset over No. 1 Marshall last week while the Mountaineers had also just taken down the Thundering Herd.

After a serious struggle to begin the season, Kentucky has looked entirely different over the past couple of games, and that energy gave them the push they needed to hand West Virginia their first loss of the season. UK has now won two straight matches after going roughly five weeks without a single victory.

Wildcat energy builds

Both teams came out kicking on Friday as the Mountaineers got the ball first, but the ‘Cats did not let it stay that way for long. Kentucky looked aggressive and kept the ball on their end of the field for the majority of the opening 20 minutes.

The momentum built by the ‘Cats early in the match kept growing into the 30’. The Wildcats were getting breakaways on the pitch but were unsuccessful in their attempts until the 32′ when sophomore and Lexington native Max Miller found freshman Alfred Baafi charging toward the goal.

Baafi was able to take the ball and rocket a shot into the back of the net to give UK an early 1-0 lead. It was Miller’s team-leading sixth assist on the season.

WAY TO GET IT DONE, BAAFI!!!!!!!!!!#WeAreUK | #GBED pic.twitter.com/hJ5AciNxZE
— Kentucky Men’s Soccer (@UKMensSoccer) October 27, 2023

Play did not slow down on either end of the pitch to wind down the first half. The Mountaineers were on the cusp of multiple scores, but Kentucky sophomore goalkeeper Casper Mols was there to stop them at every shot attempt. By the end of the first 45, neither team had any more luck at scoring as Mols had already accumulated five saves.

Second half momentum

Coming out of the locker room, each squad seemed even more eager to find a goal. Although the ‘Cats got the early lead, West Virginia was determined to knot things up.

Each team had multiple corner attempts by the 60′, however, their defenses’ were clogging the box which made it nearly impossible for either group to find the back of the goal. A yellow card on UK gave the Mountaineers a chance to score thanks to a free kick, but it was another unsuccessful effort.

By the 80′ there was still hope for West Virginia to get an equalizer score as the ‘Cats maintained a 1-nil lead.

With one final attempt in the 89′, the Mountaineers sent a hail mary into the box. After bobbling around for a few seconds, the ball was quickly booted out by the ‘Cats who were able to come out victorious after a solid 90 minutes. It was Mols’ second straight clean sheet and the first time WVU has been shut since losing to — you guessed it — Kentucky back in the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

Although UK has struggled against teams that were considered to be more beatable, they have shown out against the top-five squads over the past couple of weeks. This win for Kentucky is also significant when it comes to positioning for the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

Oct. 27, 2023 (Wildcat's Version) 😼@UKMensSoccer upsets No. 2 West Virginia, 1-0!!#NCAASoccer pic.twitter.com/MQ4qAAQdbZ
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) October 28, 2023