Women’s Soccer Hits Road for Matchup with Murray State
MURRAY, Ky. – Kentucky women’s soccer (1-0-0, 0-0-0 SEC) makes its first road trip of the season this Thursday when the Wildcats are slated to meet Murray State (0-2-0, 0-0-0 MVC) at Cutchin Field beginning at 5 p.m.
The game can be seen live on ESPN+ with live stats also available to fans.
A goal from graduate-student Jordyn Rhodes was all that Kentucky needed to nab an opening night win over Eastern Kentucky last Thursday, 1-0. The strike was the 37th of Rhodes’ career, moving her into a tie for second on the program’s all-time list. Goalkeeper Marz Josephson made three saves to post a shutout in her UK debut, the first clean sheet of the grad-transfer’s collegiate career. Assisting on the Rhodes’ goal were a pair of Lexington newcomers in senior transfer Grace Phillpotts and freshman Tanner Strickland, who each claimed their first points as Wildcats. Phillpotts and Strickland were among a group of six Kentucky field players who saw a full 90 minutes of action in the match.
Murray State enters Thursday’s contest still looking for its first points of 2023. The Racers have dropped their first two matches, falling at home to Grambling State and on the road at Georgia State. The team returns several key pieces from a squad which reached the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship a year ago, including MVC First-Team selection, Saraya Young and last season’s leading goal scorer, Mary Hardy.
UK is 3-0-0 all-time against Murray State, most recently upending the Racers, 3-2 (OT), back in September of 2021. Then a junior, Rhodes managed four points in the two teams’ previous meeting, tallying a goal to go along with two assists. Current Kentucky senior Úlfa Úlfarsdóttir also collected a goal in the contest.
The Cats are looking to continue their non-conference success under second-year head coach Troy Fabiano, who has totaled an 8-1-0 record in games outside of the SEC to this point.
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.
