Women’s Soccer Travels to Starkville for NCAA Tournament Second Round
LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 5-seeded Kentucky women’s soccer (11-4-5, 3-3-4) returns to Starkville, Mississippi for the second time this season when they take on No. 4-seed Notre Dame (12-3-4, 5-1-4) on Friday, November 22nd at 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Tickets are on sale here, and the match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The Wildcats enter the second round after defeating West Virginia 4-2 in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw through 110 minutes of play. The Mountaineers opened the scoring Friday evening but only led for three minutes before Maddie Kemp put away her fifth goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1. After neither side could find a winner in overtime, the Wildcats went four of four from the penalty spot and picked up two big saves from goalkeeper Marz Josephson to earn their first NCAA tournament win in a decade.
The Fighting Irish enter the second round of the NCAA tournament after a 5-1 win over Milwaukee to start tournament play. Notre Dame saw five different goal scorers in their victory over the Panthers and are led by freshman forward Izzy Engle who has 17 goals on the season for 35 points.
The Wildcats are 0-1-0 all-time against Notre Dame, with the only meeting between the two programs coming on October 14th where the Fighting Irish won 9-0.
The Wildcats make their 12th appearance in the NCAA tournament with an overall record of 3-10-3 and their fourth all-time appearance in the second round. The last time the Wildcats appeared in the second round of the NCAA tournament was November 21st, 2014, in Charlottesville, Virginia where they defeated Arizona State 3-1. In 2014, the program made history winning both first and second round games to earn its first-ever appearance in the Sweet 16.
The winner of Friday’s match will face the winner of the No. 1-seed Mississippi State – Washington match in the third round of the NCAA tournament at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT on Sunday, November 24th.
For the latest on UK Women’s Soccer, follow the Wildcats on Facebook, Instagram, X and at UKathletics.com.
