Arin Gilliland Placed on Loan To Newcastle Jets

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Former University of Kentucky women’s soccer player Arin Gilliland has been placed on loan for the winter of 2017-18 by the Chicago Red Stars to the Newcastle Jets, where she will play her second professional season in Australia beginning later this month.
 
The Wilmore, Kentucky native recently completed her third season with the Chicago Red Stars, earning 22 starts in her 23 appearances, playing over 1,800 minutes on the pitch for Rory Dames’ squad. The Red Stars finished fourth in the National Women’s Soccer League table this season, and competed in the NWSL Playoffs for the third-straight year.
 
The Newcastle Jets compete in the W-League of Australian professional soccer, and will be the home to Gilliland for the second-straight season. It is a 12-match, 14-week season for the winter with the regular season concluding on February 4. The top four teams on the table at the end of the regular season will make the semifinals, which are single elimination.
 
Gilliland competed for Newcastle last season, helping the Jets as a primary midfielder to four wins and three draws – just missing out on the postseason by one position on the table.
 
The Chicago Red Stars also announced this week that Gilliland’s contract option for 2018 has been picked up by the club.   
 
Kentucky returns to the field for its final regular season match on Thursday night at Georgia. The Wildcats can still make the 2017 Southeastern Conference Tournament in Orange Beach with three points against UGA on Thursday and some help with other results around the SEC. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m. ET, and the match will be shown live on the SEC Network+, WatchESPN and the ESPN app.

For the latest on the Kentucky women’s soccer team, follow @UKWomensSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.