'Cats Roll to Sun Belt Conference Championship After Shutout Victory
#1 seed Kentucky Men’s Soccer (13-0-5, 7-0-3 Sun Belt) faced #4 seed West Virginia (7-7-4, 3-1-4 Sun Belt) on Wednesday night in Lexington, KY at The Bell Soccer Complex. The Wildcats were able to come away with a shutout victory of 3-0 over the Mountaineers following a high-energy match. Kentucky took down #8 seed South Carolina on Sunday to make it to Wednesday’s semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
The atmosphere was electric when the ‘Cats took the pitch against West Virginia. The stands were full of fans (over 2,000 people came out for the show) cheering on their #2 nationally ranked Cats.
‘Cats bring the energy early
Kentucky came out aggressively against West Virginia in the first half. Due to being the aggressors, they were able to maintain possession of the ball for the most part.
With the momentum in their favor, the ‘Cats were able to find the back of the net first in the 22’ to go up 1-0 over the Mountaineers.
Slow end to the first half and start to the second
Although each team had high energy at various times in the rest of the first half, neither of them found another goal going into halftime.
When both teams took the pitch out of the break, they were off to a slower start.
Kentucky was able to get a few free kicks off of cards assessed to West Virginia players, but the ‘Cats struggled to find another score.
Late momentum for UK
The ‘Cats may have struggled to get the ball in the goal at the start of the second half, but they made up for the slow start in the 81’.
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With only nine minutes remaining in the match, senior Eythor Bjorgolfsson found the back of the goal. With this score, he made the lead 2-0 in favor of Kentucky.
The match was lit for the ‘Cats after Bjorgolfssen’s goal, and only two minutes later with the help of junior Enzo Mauriz, Kentucky found their third goal of the night in the 83’.
The crowd was dynamic after Mauriz scored, and so was the rest of the team.
On, on, U of K (to the ‘ship)
Due to the team effort and energy that was brought to the pitch, Kentucky was able to come out with the victory.
Not only did the ‘Cats get a shutout win, but they also move on to the Sun Belt Championship match, which is set for Sunday afternoon back at The Bell in Lexington. Kentucky, which is one of just two undefeated teams remaining in the country (the other being No. 1 ranked Washington), will face #7 seed James Madison University.
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