Gabi Poretto Named SEC Freshman of the Week

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky defender Gabi Poretto has been named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal in the Wildcats’ 2-1 upset victory over No. 25 Alabama last Friday.

The Wildcat freshman shared this week’s award with Florida’s Kai Tsakiris. Other weekly award winners include Offensive Player of the Week Amalia Villarreal from Texas and Defensive Player of the Week Kennedy Husbands from Mississippi State.

Poretto’s 77th minute penalty kick propelled the Wildcats to a 3-1-0 start to the SEC season, the program’s best since 2013, and the team’s second top-25 victory in conference play. The Lithia, Fla. native has now buried a game-winning penalty kick in each of Kentucky’s last two matches, with her decisive goal against the Crimson Tide joined by an 89th-minute game-winner against Missouri last week.

Poretto now leads the team with three game-winning goals in 2025 and currently ranks fourth all-time in the Kentucky Freshman record book, one GWG shy of matching the Kentucky freshman record.

Poretto also played a full 90 minutes against the Crimson Tide, has played every minute of SEC play, and currently ranks second on the team with 952 minutes played this season. She also anchored a Kentucky defense that has only allowed one goal in its last two matches and held Alabama to 11 shots, the lowest output by the Crimson Tide in an SEC match this season.

The Wildcats will play two matches next week, traveling to Gainesville to play Florida on Thursday, October 2 at 7 p.m. ET before returning home to host No. 13 Vanderbilt on Sunday, October 5 at 1 p.m. ET.  Admission to all 2025 Kentucky Soccer regular season home matches will be free to the public.

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