Texas A&M soccer is set to open up conference play on the road this week. The Aggies face Kentucky in Lexington on Friday at 7PM Eastern/6PM Central. The game will be broadcast on SEC+ with audio available on the 12th Man App.
Kentucky sits at a respectable 5-1-2 record this season, but you will also notice that their non-conference slate was less than impressive. The lone ranked team that Kentucky faced was USF (who has since fallen off the top 25) and the Wildcats lost that match 1-2. Their draws came against Dayton (0-0) and Purdue (1-1). Wins came over Marshall (3-0), University of Louisiana (5-0), Oakland (4-1), and Murray State (3-2).
Strength of schedule aside, UK is taking care of business against the teams they should beat and their defensive stats seem impressive with a .75 goal against average.
Kentucky has an interesting roster with a strong Scandinavian influence. They have five players from Denmark, one from Sweden, and two Icelandic players. Kentucky's roster also features two German players and just one from the state of Kentucky. Good luck to the American tongues of those that have to call the game.
Jordyn Rhodes (#30), a junior forward from South Lebanon (Ohio, that is), has stuffed her stat sheet this season. Rhodes has a team high in goals (8) and assists (5). Her 32 shots and 16 SOG are also team highs. Rhodes is looking to repeat as First Team All-SEC and has made a good case already.
Junior forward Hannah Richardson (#8) has totalled 6 of Kentucky's goals. Together with Rhodes, the duo has accounted for 2/3 of Kentucky's scoring.
Freshman Laura Nielsen mans the goal for Kentucky. She has a remarkable 41 saves on the season already while allowing 6 goals. Kentucky has 4 shutouts through the non-conference season.
Kentucky is allowing their opponents a decent number of shots and shots on goal, but the goalkeeper has kept the goal fairly clean. Meanwhile, their forwards have been efficient in finishing their opportunities. The duo highlighted above is scoring on more than 25% of their shots and more than 50% of their shots on goal.
Kentucky isn't deep, but they have a few key players that have been very good for them. They aren't ready to make an NCAA appearance, but we should finally see some improvement from this Kentucky team that's become a conference basement dweller in recent years. They should certainly finish higher in conference than the #14 spot they were voted in the preseason poll.
Kentucky sits at a respectable 5-1-2 record this season, but you will also notice that their non-conference slate was less than impressive. The lone ranked team that Kentucky faced was USF (who has since fallen off the top 25) and the Wildcats lost that match 1-2. Their draws came against Dayton (0-0) and Purdue (1-1). Wins came over Marshall (3-0), University of Louisiana (5-0), Oakland (4-1), and Murray State (3-2).
Strength of schedule aside, UK is taking care of business against the teams they should beat and their defensive stats seem impressive with a .75 goal against average.
Kentucky has an interesting roster with a strong Scandinavian influence. They have five players from Denmark, one from Sweden, and two Icelandic players. Kentucky's roster also features two German players and just one from the state of Kentucky. Good luck to the American tongues of those that have to call the game.
Jordyn Rhodes (#30), a junior forward from South Lebanon (Ohio, that is), has stuffed her stat sheet this season. Rhodes has a team high in goals (8) and assists (5). Her 32 shots and 16 SOG are also team highs. Rhodes is looking to repeat as First Team All-SEC and has made a good case already.
Junior forward Hannah Richardson (#8) has totalled 6 of Kentucky's goals. Together with Rhodes, the duo has accounted for 2/3 of Kentucky's scoring.
Freshman Laura Nielsen mans the goal for Kentucky. She has a remarkable 41 saves on the season already while allowing 6 goals. Kentucky has 4 shutouts through the non-conference season.
Kentucky is allowing their opponents a decent number of shots and shots on goal, but the goalkeeper has kept the goal fairly clean. Meanwhile, their forwards have been efficient in finishing their opportunities. The duo highlighted above is scoring on more than 25% of their shots and more than 50% of their shots on goal.
Kentucky isn't deep, but they have a few key players that have been very good for them. They aren't ready to make an NCAA appearance, but we should finally see some improvement from this Kentucky team that's become a conference basement dweller in recent years. They should certainly finish higher in conference than the #14 spot they were voted in the preseason poll.
