No. 5 seeded Kentucky women’s soccer (11-4-5, 3-3-4) defeated West Virginia (12-5-3, 8-2-1) 4-2 in penalty kicks to advance in the NCAA tournament for the first time in ten years.
The match was played in front of 1,360 fans, which was the largest crowd for a women’s soccer match this season for the Cats.
The Wildcats haven’t won a penalty shootout since 2014, when they defeated SIUE in a shootout at home during the first round of the NCAA tournament.
For just the fourth time in program history, Marzia Josephson earned the Wildcats their way to the second round by making two decisive stops.
“As a goalkeeper, when you’re making the saves, you’re getting more confident,” Josephson said. “So, I just tried to do what I can to help the team keep them out of the goal as best as I could.”
Josephson had to make seven stops, which was the most in a game so far this season, as West Virginia had eight shots on goal compared to Kentucky’s four.
In terms of total shots, the Wildcats held a 20-18 advantage over the Mountaineers throughout the long and intense 110 minutes of play.
Possession time was high for the Wildcats, but they failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities in the first 45 minutes of play.
Later in the first half, things became more exciting when the referee went to the monitor to assess a possible handball in the box against West Virginia. The head official reviewed the play and decided it was not a foul; thus, the Cats were not given a penalty.
In the second half, Olivia Shertzer of West Virginia scored the first goal of the match in the 51st minute.
The Mountaineers’ lead was short-lived, as two minutes after their goal the Wildcats rallied, and Maddie Kemp scored the tying goal. Kemp scored her sixth goal of the year, and Catherine DeRosa earned her second assist.
Both goalkeepers exchanged plays that lasted the rest of the second half. In the last fifteen minutes, Josephson produced some crucial stops to preserve Kentucky’s chances of advancing in the postseason.
With the score still tied 1-1 after 90 minutes of play, overtime commenced.
Overtime did not grant many opportunities to the Wildcats or Mountaineers as both teams were clearly extremely fatigued, so the game remained tied, which meant it was time for penalty kicks.
Makala Woods, Michelle Moskau, Grace Hoytink and Sophia Mattice all scored goals as Kentucky won the shootout 4-2. Josephson stopped West Virginia’s second and fourth efforts to advance Kentucky to the NCAA tournament’s second round.
With the win, Kentucky will play No. 4 seeded Notre Dame with the host location, date, and time to be announced.
