STARKVILLE, Miss. – It was a night to forget, but a season to remember and build upon for the Wildcats as No. 5-seeded Kentucky women’s soccer (11-5-5, 3-3-4) bowed out of NCAA tournament action falling to No. 4 seed Notre Dame (13-3-4, 5-1-4) 3-1 on Friday in the second round. Captain Catherine DeRosa scored the lone goal for the Cats in the defeat.

“Congratulations to Notre Dame for advancing. I would say this; the biggest thing is that we
asked our kids to come out and compete and we thought we left it on the line. So excited about
their performance and what they did in this type of environment, so happy about how we
performed tonight.” Head coach Troy Fabiano had to say after the match.

The Fighting Irish outshot the Wildcats 18-13 in the match with eight shots on target to Kentucky’s three. Kentucky’s Marz Josephson made five saves in the game with each team earning four yellow cards.

Notre Dame opened the scoring early in the match through their leader Izzy Engle in the fourth minute. The freshman curled a right-footed shot into the top corner and now has 18 goals on the season. The Fighting Irish doubled their advantage just eight minutes later, converting a penalty for the 2-0 lead after a Michelle Moskau foul in the box. Kentucky managed to get eight shots away in the opening half of play but only one on target in a frustrating opening 45 minutes.

The Wildcats regrouped at the half and opened the second half with vigor putting multiple chances on net, forcing Notre Dame goalkeeper Sonoma Kasica to make some saves. Kentucky finally converted in the 53rd minute through Catherine DeRosa. The grad transfer collected a clearance from Notre Dame on the edge of the box, switched to her left foot, and hit a rocket of a shot directly into the top left corner of the net to cut the lead in half.

With the much needed goal, Kentucky rallied and pushed for the equalizer, taking the game to Notre Dame. The rally was cut short, unfortunately, as just seven minutes later the Fighting Irish found their third goal of the match through Lily Joseph, concluding the season for Kentucky.

The Wildcats enjoyed their best season since 2014 going 11-5-5 overall. Kentucky enjoyed double-digit wins in a season for the first time under Troy Fabiano and the first time in a decade. The team also remains undefeated at the Bell Soccer Complex going 9-0-4 in 2024.

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