The Thundering Herd men’s soccer team of Marshall will roll into Lexington on Wednesday night to do battle with the Kentucky Wildcats in a crucial, midseason Conference USA showdown.
Marshall enters the match on a five game winning streak that has it sitting atop the league with a 2-0 C-USA record. Defeats of FIU and Memphis have left the Herd in that position, and Kentucky – who enters the contest with an 0-2 conference record after losses to UCF and FIU – will be looking to back its No. 21 national ranking with its first C-USA win of 2011.
Junior forward Tom Jackson has provided the Herd with a goalscoring threat lately, scoring back-to-back hattricks at home in wins over Winthrop and Memphis, while goalkeeper Daniel Withrow has made an impressive 47 saves on the year and claimed three shutout wins. Jackson has seven goals this season to lead the team.
For Kentucky, Tyler Riggs leads the squad with nine goals, while teammates Matt Lodge and Charles Pettys provide the support with seven assists apiece. The Wildcats are 7-5-1 this season, but have lost two straight to C-USA opposition in overtime.
The last time these two met was in October of last year, when Kentucky overcame a 1-0 deficit to defeat Marshall 2-1 in overtime at Sam Hood Field. The Herd, now sitting at 5-4 for the season, will hope to edge closer to a C-USA postseason berth and gain some breathing room above .500 with a win over the Wildcats on Wednesday. The match is scheduled to kick off at 7:00 p.m. in Lexington.