Freshman Lodge impresses

By Clark Brooks

UK head coach Ian Collins isn’t one to throw out shallow compliments, particularly to his own players. But freshman midfielder Matt Lodge seems to have Collins changing his tune.

“This might be a bit premature on my part, but he’s probably one of the best freshmen in the entire country,” Collins said.

Coming from Collins, that’s especially high praise. Lodge, however, has truly impressed UK’s coaching staff during his short time in the Bluegrass.

A native of Rossington, England, Lodge traveled over 3,920 miles to be a part of the UK squad, but since the recruiting process began last December, he had a feeling he would be a Cat eventually.

“Matt was somewhat of an unknown commodity,” Collins said. “When some of my assistants and I traveled over to watch him play last winter we loved what we saw and were the first to contact him about playing in college.”

Because some of UK’s most productive goal scorers graduated last spring, the Cats were looking to bring in a great freshman class to complement their veterans.

“When we saw Matt, he was an intelligent player,” Collins said. “We knew we had to get a guy who could step in right away and make an impact.”

The transition to life in the U.S. was difficult at first, but when a person goes off to college, it always takes some getting used to in the beginning.

“The weather is different here,” Lodge said. “There are actually seasons here instead of rain and overcast skies. To help me get accustomed with the culture and the Lexington area, I took summer classes. I’m really glad I did — I love it here.”

The coaching staff is ecstatic over the numerous ways they can use Lodge when he is one the field.

“He just brings so much to the table,” Collins said. “His fitness allows him to do a lot of things. We plan to use him as a free roll player, on set pieces, and even sometimes on defense as our tail wide player.”

In recent exhibitions, Lodge didn’t take long to make a name for himself. When the Cats played Marquette in the team’s second exhibition match, Lodge scored from 30 yards out in the 10th minute.

“Matt is very instrumental with the ball in his hands,” Collins said. “He joins a good group of offensive attackers. It was clear to me he was the best person on that field the other night. He has the potential to be the best in C-USA. The world is his oyster.”

Lodge didn’t waste any time once the season began, netting a goal against Bowling Green on Sunday in his second career game. Lodge has started each of the first two games for UK and seems to have found his spot in the team’s rotation.

With young players like Lodge waiting in the wings to take over roles for last year’s top contributors, senior defender and All-American Barry Rice said the Cats can move one step closer to their ultimate goal.

“Lodge and the other freshmen are a very productive group of players,” Rice said. “Bringing in a good class just adds to our chances of winning this conference.”