No. 25 Kentucky men’s soccer (8-2-3, 5-1-0 SBC) traveled to Statesboro, Georgia, to take on No. 20 Georgia Southern (10-3-1, 3-3-0 SBC).
James Madison senior transfer Kevin Larsson sank two goals into the back of the net to edge the Wildcats past the Eagles, landing Kentucky its second-ranked win of the season.
Just before the 20th minute, Larsson landed a thrilling goal from just outside the box to put the Wildcats first on the board, courtesy of Josh Gordon with the assist.
“I thought the first 20 minutes of the game was a job well done from our crew. We had a lot of control, we scored a great goal,” Kentucky associate head coach Ryan Zinkhan said.
In his 2024 season with James Madison, Larsson recorded two braces — or two goals in a single game — one against Georgia Southern and another against West Virginia.
The lead for the Cats, however, didn’t last long as the Eagles hastily responded 10 minutes later.
Racing for the ball and colliding with Wildcat defender Owen Mikoy, Zachary Martin drew a foul in the box for Georgia Southern. Freshman Emil Seedorff stepped up to take the penalty kick for the Eagles but was unsuccessful in scoring as Kentucky goalkeeper Sebastian Conlon stopped the ball.
However, that wasn’t enough to stop the Eagles from scoring as the ball ricocheted off Conlon’s padded gloves and bounced back to Seedorff, who took advantage of the second chance with a one-touch shot landing in the bottom left of the goal.
By halftime, the game was back and forth the whole time. With the score tied at one, both teams were battling for possession, defending their respective goals and striking at all times.
Sixty-four minutes into the game, Larsson struck for the second time, earning himself his second brace in back-to-back years against Georgia Southern.
Racing down the sideline with possession, Wildcat midfielder Agustin Lopez took a shot on goal. In similar fashion to Georgia Southern’s penalty kick, Nate Martinez for the Eagles deflected Lopez’s shot; however, it bounced right to Larsson’s feet, giving him a quick one-touch finish directing the ball over Martinez’s head.
“Relieved and obviously proud, it’s a special moment, so really happy to score those two goals and help the team get the win,” Larsson said.
Both teams ended the hard-fought match with five shots on goal and were extremely close in every category on the stat sheet.
“A great team performance tonight. This is not an easy place to play. Georgia Southern made it really difficult for us, they asked a lot of questions, and credit to our guys, they responded really well,” Zinkhan said.
