Kentucky Men's Soccer Shutout by No. 1 Seed Marshall in Sun Belt Semis

Kentucky men’s soccer has been bounced from the conference tournament.

The No. 5 seeded Wildcats (7-7-4) faced the No. 1 seed Marshall Thundering Herd in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Wednesday night at Marshall’s home field in Huntington, WV. This was a rematch of a recent regular season matchup between these two, which saw Kentucky upset the nation’s top-ranked team 2-0 on Oct. 22, kicking off a four-match winning streak for the ‘Cats.

But Marshall would get its revenge when it mattered most. Kentucky started strong in round two but struggled to keep up in the second half, resulting in a 3-0 shutout victory for the Thundering Herd that sent the Wildcats back to Lexington.

As expected, both teams came out with high energy levels in the opening minutes. But it was Kentucky who primarily maintained possession on the offensive end of the pitch throughout the first half. They did so despite missing former Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week Marqes Muir after he received his fifth yellow card in the team’s previous match against James Madison.

By the 4th minute, Kentucky had already been able to get two shots on goal. Although neither was lucky enough to find the back of the net, the Wildcats remained resilient and were able to get four more shots off by the end of the first 45.

Unfortunately for Kentucky, none of those six shots were on goal. Marshall was keeping up with the ‘Cats for the first 30 minutes but likewise couldn’t find any scoring luck. The Thundering Herd had no corner attempts in the first half either, leading to a scoreless game at the halftime break.

𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝟰𝟱.

After a scrappy first half, @HerdMSoccer and @UKMensSoccer remain scoreless. #SunBeltMSOC ☀️⚽ pic.twitter.com/aA9RJca6Dg

— Sun Belt (@SunBelt) November 9, 2023

Slow-moving second half

The start of the second half was rough, to say the least, for Kentucky. Even though sophomore Mathias Yohannes did a solid job stepping in for the missing Muir, the hole that was left allowed Marshall to pick apart the Wildcats on the defensive end.

Less than four minutes out of the locker room, the Herd were able to get ahead of Kentucky’s defense and find the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead. UK may have led Marshall in shot attempts in the first half, but the home team came out more aggressive in the second 45, ultimately finishing the match with more shots than Kentucky.

Kentucky seemed discombobulated on both sides of the pitch as the match went on. It was still a 1-0 game until the 64′ when Marshall was able to catch the Wildcats off guard again, drilling a ball into the top center of the net.

Now down 2-nil, UK needed a score if they wanted to keep their conference championship hopes alive. Kentucky fifth-year midfielder Brennan Creek was able to fire off two shots following Marshall’s second score. His shot in the 73′ was on goal but it was blocked by the Herd goalkeeper.

In a hole too deep

With the minutes ticking off the clock, the morale of the Wildcats seemed low and lethargic as the Thundering Herd continued to march down the pitch in an effort to put the ‘Cats in a deeper hole. Marshall’s attempts were successful in the 87’ as they placed the nail in the coffin for UK and went up 3-0 with less than five minutes remaining.

Final.#WeAreUK | #GBED pic.twitter.com/GYdaUimTrw

— Kentucky Men’s Soccer (@UKMensSoccer) November 9, 2023

Kentucky was unable to dig themselves out and did not get another shot off for the remainder of the match, resulting in the 3-0 loss. It was Marshall’s 11th shutout of its season. Following a semifinal exit in the Sun Belt Tournament, the ‘Cats will now await the release of the NCAA DI Men’s Soccer Championship bracket on Monday, November 13.