First Half Barrage Pushes Kentucky to 3-2 Upset Over No. 8 South Carolina
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Thanks to a trio of first half goals, Kentucky (10-4-2, 4-2-2 SEC) earned its best win of the season, taking down No. 8 South Carolina (10-2-4, 4-1-3 SEC), 3-2, in its final match at the Bell Soccer Complex this season.
With the victory, the Wildcats now have three victories over top 25 teams this season—the most for the program since the 2006 team that won the SEC Tournament. The win is also the best by ranking for the Cats under fourth-year head coach Troy Fabiano, who had previously beaten No. 9 Alabama in 2023 and No. 9 UCLA in 2024.
Kentucky also set more firsts with the win over the Gamecocks, securing a Fabiano era-best fourth SEC victory and a Fabiano-era best 14 points in the league table (with two matches left to play). The Wildcats also have won double-digit matches in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2013-14.
The Wildcats, aiming to snap a three-match winless streak in conference play, set the tone from the opening kickoff. Tanner Strickland found the back of the net in the eighth minute off a deflected cross from Anna Sikorski, but a Video Assisted Review (VAR) overturned what looked to be the opening goal.
However, just a minute later, Sikorski was able to play the same ball from the left wing to the far post, where Kendall Campbell was able to head the ball into net and give the Wildcats the lead. Making her first start as a Wildcat, the goal was the first of Campbell’s Kentucky career and came just nine minutes into the match.
The Wildcats would continue to keep the pressure on, with the NCAA’s leader in corner kicks earning their first of the match in the 14th minute. A Grace Hoytink service was won in the air by Katherine Truitt off the head of a defender, allowing Catherine Rapp to back-flick the ball with her head. Thalia Morisi received the ball from Rapp at the goal mouth and blasted the second goal of the match for her fourth score of the season.
In the 32nd minute, Strickland was able to do what she does best—beat a defender in the box and draw a foul for a penalty kick. The junior from Tampa, Florida drew her seventh penalty of the season for the Wildcats, more than all but one Division I team (excluding Kentucky). Gabi Poretto stepped to the spot for the fourth time this season and buried a strike to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
Just three minutes later, Kentucky would draw another penalty kick, with Sydni Fink earning the attempt. Kentucky now leads the nation with 12 penalties drawn this season. Poretto stepped to the spot again but missed her second attempt high and wide right.
The Gamecocks worked their way back into the match, scoring their first goal in the 40th minute. A cleared corner kick landed at the feet of Jyvanna Harris, who played the ball over the top of the Wildcat defense to Mackenzie Johnson. Johnson controlled the ball from the air and played a touch to herself towards goal, slotting in into the bottom right corner.
The score would remain at 3-1 in favor of Kentucky heading into the break, as well as much of the second half. With the Wildcats content to defend, South Carolina was never really able to generate chances, only shooting four shots on the night. Tonight was the eighth match of the season where Kentucky has allowed five or fewer shots and the Wildcats lead the SEC with only 95 shots conceded.
However, the match intensified when the Gamecocks drew a penalty kick in the 79th minute. South Carolina’s leading goal scorer, Katie Shea Collins, was able to win the ball and drive toward goal, where she was clipped from behind by Poretto at the very edge of the box. Initially ruled a free kick, the Cats would concede their first PK of the season after a VAR. Cuyler Zulauf stepped to the spot and shot the ball to the bottom left corner, where Kentucky keeper Megan Holland got a glove on the ball, but could not keep it out of the net.
Nurturing a one-goal lead for the final 11 minutes and 10 seconds, Kentucky held firm and only allowed one shot, with Holland making her only save of the evening in the 85th minute to preserve the victory.
The win was the first for the Wildcats over South Carolina since 2014, snapping a nine-match winless streak in the series. Since that 2014 victory, Kentucky had only managed one goal against the Gamecocks; tonight, the Cats scored three in the historic victory. Kentucky also handed South Carolina—the last remaining unbeaten SEC team in league play–its first conference defeat of the season.
The Wildcats will hit the road for their penultimate match of the regular season, traveling to Baton Rouge this weekend to face (rv) LSU on Sunday, October 19 at 2 p.m. ET.
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