A familiar foe will face the Marshall Men’s Soccer Team in the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 8, when it hosts the Kentucky Wildcats at 7 p.m. at Hoops Family Field.
The last time the Herd took on UK, they suffered a 2-0 loss. Wildcat Mason Visconti scored two of his four goals on the season in the first half of the contest.
Going into the matchup with Kentucky, the Herd is on a two-game win streak. In Marshall’s win versus Old Dominion in the quarterfinals, Matthew Bell set the single season record for assists with 11. Bell also added Sun Belt Player of the Year to his resume over the weekend.
Agustin Iusem tallied the game-sealing goal as well as his first career goal in green and white.
Newcomer goalkeeper Gabriel Perrotta is also coming off one of his best performances of the season, after tallying five crucial saves and notching his ninth individual shutout. Perrotta’s brick wall performances this season earned him Sun Belt Goalkeeper of the Year.
Kentucky knocked off the James Madison Dukes in order to make it to the semifinals. The Wildcats won 2-1 but not without some challenges. In the 49th minute, with the game tied 1-1, Rodrigo Robles of the Dukes lined up for a penalty kick that could’ve given the Dukes a 2-1 lead. Kentucky goalkeeper Casper Mols made the save, though, and preserved the tie for a little longer.
The winner of Wednesday night’s matchup will face the winner of the West Virginia Mountaineers versus the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Sun Belt Championship on Nov. 12 at 1 p.m.