Kentucky Men's Soccer Drops #1 Marshall, Ends Winless Streak

A season comeback may be brewing for the ‘Cats.

Kentucky Men’s Soccer (4-6-4) traveled to Marshall University on Sunday to take on the No. 1 ranked Thundering Herd (12-2) in front of a sold-out crowd at Hoops Family Field. Coming into the match, the Wildcats had been on a four-game draw streak and hadn’t won a game since Sept. 8. Meanwhile, Marshall most recently lost their first match of the season last week to West Virginia. The Herd’s misfortune would continue against UK.

Although it’s been a rocky season so far for the ‘Cats, Kentucky came out on top on Sunday with a 2-0 shutout dub. The win is Kentucky’s first in Sun Belt Conference play and the team’s first road victory of the season. It was also the first time that Marshall has been shut out since Nov. 2022.

“We’re really happy to walk away with three points,” UK associate head coach Ryan Zinkhan said after the win. “But I think we’re most proud of the performance and focusing on the process. For us, we knew if we focused on the process, focused on our performance, and focused on us, we knew that the result was just going to be a byproduct of that.”

Here’s how Kentucky’s upset of the nation’s top-ranked team went down.

‘Cats off to a solid start

Starting out on Sunday, each team was trying to find their first score but shots were just not hitting the goal. The ‘Cats would eventually find some rhythm first thanks to a foul inside the box by the Herd.

In the 22nd minute, Kentucky fifth-year Mason Visconti stepped up to take the penalty kick and nailed it into the bottom right of the net to give his team an early 1-0 lead.

ICYMI 😼#WeAreUK | #GBED pic.twitter.com/Argx2uyndV

— Kentucky Men’s Soccer (@UKMensSoccer) October 23, 2023

Not long after Visconti drained the penalty, he received a yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct. As a result of the foul, Marshall earned a free kick out of it but was unable to find the back of the net.

The Herd was getting off more shots than the ‘Cats but were still having no luck at picking up the equalizer goal. On the other hand, UK had more luck later in the first half. Another Marshall foul awarded Kentucky a free kick in the 37th minute which resulted in Visconti’s second score of the night. The assist came from senior Aboubacar Camara.

Going into the locker room, it was a 2-0 game in favor of Kentucky. The ‘Cats had not scored two goals within the first 45 minutes of a match so far this season.

Start strong, stay strong

In the second half, UK did not come out as energetically as they did at the start of the match. Marshall got off two clean looks within the first five minutes. Luckily for the ‘Cats, they had sophomore Casper Mols in the goal, who ended up with four saves by the end of the match.

Mols continued to step up big in the second half. The Herd were able to draw fouls on Kentucky and trap them into free kicks, but they were not able to get it past the star goalkeeper. By the 80′, the score remained 2-0 with the Wildcats still in command. There would be no comeback for Marshall either.

The win marked Kentucky’s first in eight matches. UK came away with the 2-nil shutout dub and handed the #1 team in the nation their second straight loss. Kentucky now leads the all-time series against Marshall 22-12-5.

Coming up next for the ‘Cats is No. 5 West Virginia — the team that beat Marshall just a few days ago — on Friday, Oct. 27 at 7:00 p.m. EST at the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex in Lexington.