Kentucky Faces Vanderbilt for Thursday Night Tilt
LEXINGTON, Ky. – UK journeys to Nashville for its first SEC road match of the 2022 season, as the Wildcats (7-2-0, 0-1-0 SEC) prepare to take on Vanderbilt (6-1-1, 0-1-0 SEC) on Thursday night. The contest will be played at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex and can be seen live on SECN+.
Both sides are looking for their first win in conference play after dropping their respective SEC openers. The Cats were edged by Ole Miss, 2-1, last Friday in a tightly contested affair, while Vanderbilt is coming off a 2-1 defeat to LSU.
Graduate forward Hailey Farrington-Bentil scored the lone goal against the Rebels for the Wildcats, who ultimately fell just short when Mississippi converted on a PK for the go-ahead goal late in the first half.
The trio of Hannah Richardson, Jordyn Rhodes and Úlfa Úlfarsdóttir has been producing consistently for Kentucky, with all three ranking inside the SEC’s top-ten in points. Kentucky is the only school in the conference with three representatives on the list, paced by Richardson at 14 points. The senior forward has racked up eight assists this season, tying her for the most in Division I entering Thursday.
Vanderbilt is led by head coach Darren Ambrose who is in his eighth season with the program. The Commodores have shutout their opponent in all six of their wins this season and are outscoring the opposition 22-3 overall. Graduate student Raegan Kelley, a First-Team All-SEC selection in 2021, has continued to be a huge factor this season. The midfielder ranks second in the SEC with 17 points on five goals and seven assists. Sophomore forward Rachel Deresky has enjoyed a strong start to the year, recording four goals thus far and earning SEC Offensive Player of the Week back on Aug. 22. In goal, junior Kate Devine has made six starts, registering 17 saves and four shutouts. Sophomore Sarah Wojdelko has also started two games in net for the Commodores.
Kentucky trails the all-time series with Vanderbilt, 15-17-2 and has lost the last five meetings. The teams last played Oct. 7, 2021 with the Commodores earning a 4-1 win in Lexington.
For the latest on UK Women’s Soccer, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKWomensSoccer, on Facebook and on the web at UKathletics.com.
