MOREHEAD | Three days after coming back from behind to earn a road tie against Marshall, Morehead State’s soccer team hopes to continue that success in the closing stages when it travels to home-state rival Kentucky to face the Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex in Lexington.
The Eagles held Marshall to a 1-1 draw, while Kentucky Central beat Michigan at home. Both games took place on Thursday night. It is the second of three away games for the Blue and Gold to begin the season.
“This is another great opportunity to test ourselves against one of the best,” MSU head coach Paul Cox said of the game against Kentucky. “They are very athletic and this will be a great test for us. We want to build on our performance from last night and put on a good performance.”
Morehead State (0-0-1) scored a goal by a first-year forward Carlie Thurmond and an assist from the freshman striker Ava Peck in the game on Thursday. Freshman goalkeeper Lilly Bailey started, but had to drop out after 17 minutes and 54 seconds due to injury and was replaced by a classmate Claire Cress. Both goalies finished the night with a save. MSU had more shots on goal than the Thundering Herd (9-8) and had more corner kicks (four to three). Redshirt sophomore forward Jade Perrin led the blue-goldens by four shots.
Including Thursday and all of 2023, the Eagles are 4-5-2 on the road with a record of 3-1-1 in their last five games.
MSU was without six players for the season opener, but only two are expected to be out on Sunday. Senior striker Erin Fitzgerald is a key returner. She didn’t play against Marshall, but last year she had one goal, four assists, six points and 21 shots on goal.
Five award winners, four of whom were regular players, will return for the Blue and Gold in 2023. It will be a young squad, as 19 of the 26 players have less than two years of college experience.
UK returns 15 team members from the 2023 season, including All-SEC Freshman Team and leading assists sophomore midfielder Tanner Strickland (19 starts, one goal, five assists, seven points and 23 shots) and All-SEC Second-Team senior defender Grace Phillpotts (19 starts, four assists, four points and 20 shots).
The Wildcats have 25 newcomers on this year’s roster, including nine transfers, more than half of whom earned All-Conference honors last season. Sophomore midfielder and forward Maddie Kemp (20 starts, nine goals, five assists, 23 points and 74 shots at Gonzaga), sophomore goalkeeper Marz Josephson (19 starts, 9-4-6 record, 0.62 goals-against average, nine shutouts and 52 saves), sophomore midfielder Sophia Mattice (17 starts, three goals, three assists, nine points and 14 shots at Portland), senior forward Makala Woods (17 starts, three goals, three assists, nine points and 32 shots at Illinois) and Phillpotts (19 starts, four assists and four points) were all named to the Southeastern Conference Preseason Watch List.
The Eagles averaged 1.15 goals per game and conceded 1.25 goals per game last season. They had 234 shots on goal while opponents saved 236, had 87 shots on net while opponents saved 80, took 76 corners while opponents saved 82 and committed 194 fouls while opponents saved 206.
In 2023, UK scored an average of 1.26 goals per game and conceded 0.63. They allowed an average of 10.84 shots on goal per game while their opponents recorded 8.53 per game. They were ahead in corners 105-55, saved 52 shots versus their opponents’ 68 and committed 197 fouls versus their opponents’ 221.
Including tryouts, Kentucky begins the season with six straight home games. Last fall, the Wildcats finished 9-4-6 overall and 7-1-2 at home. They had a 13-game undefeated streak entering the 2023 season.
In its 2-0 victory over Central Michigan on Thursday, Kentucky (1-0-0) got goals from midfielder Sydni Fink and forward Alexis Tylenda and assists from forward Anna Sikorski, midfielder Ashley Mekitarian and Phillpotts. Josephson played 90 minutes in goal and had one save to secure the win. The Wildcats had a significant statistical advantage in shots on goal (24 to 3) and corner kicks (8 to 3), while CMU was whistled 11 times to CMU’s 10.
Kentucky has a 3-0-1 record against MSU, with all four games played in Lexington. The last meeting was in 2018, when the Wildcats earned a 2-1 overtime victory. The two teams also played a 0-0 tie in double overtime in 2009. UK won the first meeting 1-0 in 2007 and the third contest 3-0 in 2014.
The game will be broadcast on SECN+ (https://bit.ly/3yGMM5M). Live stats can be found at https://bit.ly/3WMv4Wx.
MSU travels to Eastern Kentucky to face the Colonels on Thursday, August 22nd at 4 p.m. The Eagles play their home game on Sunday, August 25th against Detroit Mercy. Kickoff for that game is at 1 p.m. at the MSU Soccer Field.
