Kentucky Men's Soccer Posts Shutout Win Over Georgia Southern
Farewell regular season, and hello postseason play.
Kentucky Men’s Soccer (6-6-4, 3-3-3 Sun Belt) traveled down south on Tuesday night to take on the Georgia Southern Eagles (2-9-6, 1-5-3). The Halloween matchup marked the final regular season match for both teams before they start Sun Belt Conference Tournament play on Sunday, November 5.
After starting the 2023 season off rocky, the ‘Cats had won their last two matches against No. 1 Marshall and No. 2 West Virginia coming into this week. Tuesday’s opponent wasn’t nationally ranked in the top two, but Kentucky came away with another win anyway.
Slow start on both ends of the pitch
Over the past couple of matches, Kentucky has been able to get an early lead against their opponents to help build momentum the rest of the way. However, that was not the case on Tuesday night for the ‘Cats.
Kentucky maintained possession for the most part in the first half but was unable to capitalize on the four corner attempts that they were awarded during that time. All of the four attempts were taken by the 18th minute.
On the other side of the pitch, the Eagles only had two corner attempts and tallied the same amount of shot attempts through the first 45 minutes. Sophomore goalkeeper Casper Mols continued to do his part for the ‘Cats in the first half as he came away with two saves to hold Georgia Southern to zero scores going into the locker room.
A better start to the 2nd half
Kentucky upped the tempo out of the locker room. The ‘Cats played more aggressively, and it paid off as freshman Isaiah Chisolm was able to find a charging Logan Dorsey to give UK their first score of the game in the 52’.
Dorsey’s early second-half goal was his team-leading fourth of the season. It was Chislom’s third assist, second-most on the team.
The Eagles picked up pace following the Kentucky goal. In the second half alone Georgia Southern was able to get seven corners, but Mols continued to shine in goal for the ‘Cats, blocking two more shots to keep his team on top. Tuesday marked Mols’ sixth clean sheet of the season.
Late into the match Georgia Southern got off multiple shot attempts, but none were able to find the back of the net. Kentucky’s defense continued to stay strong and kept the box fortified to come away with their third straight shutout victory. UK now has not lost a game since Sept. 29 when then-No. 3 Central Florida beat the ‘Cats 1-0.
Kentucky’s 1-0 dub over the Eagles allowed them to end the regular season on a high note and in winning fashion. The work is just getting started for the ‘Cats though as the Sun Belt Conference Tournament begins on Sunday, November 5. UK has earned a five-seed and will take on four-seeded James Madison in Huntington, WV on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. EST. A full schedule can be found here.
‘Cats pick up weekly honors
Freshman defender and England native Marqes Muir was named Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week by the Sun Belt Conference on Tuesday. Muir was vital in the Wildcat’s 1-0 victory over the previously undefeated #2 unbeaten West Virginia Mountaineers.
“Marqes is a tough competitor,” head coach Johan Cedergren said. “He is a quick decision maker and is not afraid to get aggressive in his defensive efforts. Especially this week against a good West Virginia team, he made it tough for their offense to get close to Casper (Mols) in the net. I really look forward to his continued development on the Kentucky defense.”
Meanwhile, sophomore stars Max Miller and Casper Mols also received weekly honors from College Soccer News and TopDrawerSoccer. Mols was named to the College Soccer News Men’s National Team after having eight saves in the team’s winner over No. 2 West Virginia last week. Miller was named to this week’s TopDrawerSoccer Men’s Team of the Week for his performance in last week’s win, which saw him record his team-leading sixth assist of the season.
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