Kentucky women’s soccer is on a historic winning streak after defeating another top-10 foe

The Kentucky women’s soccer team is on a historic winning streak. And there’s no sign of it coming to an end.

The Wildcats proved as much Sunday afternoon, as head coach Troy Fabiano’s team defeated No. 9-ranked UCLA, 2-0, in a dominant performance at the Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex in Lexington.

With the result, UK has now begun the 2024 season with seven straight wins. It’s the first time the Wildcats have opened a campaign with at least seven straight victories since 2011.

“It’s a group that works. It’s a group that knows when to have fun and knows the time when they want to compete,” Fabiano said of his team after Sunday’s win. “I think they love being around each other. They work for each other. … I think really they don’t take themselves too seriously. We have some fun. But I think the biggest thing is they compete.”

Fabiano, who is in his third season as Kentucky’s head coach, oversaw perhaps the best performance of his UK tenure in Sunday’s win, which came in front of nearly 1,000 fans.

The Wildcats scored from a set piece in each half — Makala Woods earned and scored a penalty kick in the 17th minute and Catherine DeRosa curled in a 64th-minute free kick — while largely keeping the Bruins at bay defensively.

UK used an energetic press with its offensive players to quickly set the game’s tone against UCLA, and the Cats never looked back from there.

“I’m just excited because I always tell them, ‘When it comes to tight games, it’s going to come down to set pieces or one goal,’” Fabiano said. “… When you get into that tight of a game, set pieces are massive. And today we cashed in. And we were pretty good defensively.”

Through seven matches this season, the Wildcats have scored 15 goals while allowing only two. UK also holds a healthy advantage over its opponents this season when it comes to cumulative shots on target (53 to 10).

While these statistics may have some noise in them as the result of overmatched opponents during nonconference play, that certainly isn’t a way to describe UCLA. The Bruins are one of women’s college soccer’s elite programs: UCLA has reached the NCAA Tournament title match six times since 2000, and the Bruins recently won the national championship in 2022.

“For us, it was a huge test,” Fabiano said. “We talk about ourselves being a blue blood in basketball. UCLA is that in women’s soccer. So that’s a big result for us.”

(UCLA has been without three players this season — junior forward America Frias, sophomore midfielder Val Vargas and freshman goalkeeper Mariangela Medina — while they represent Mexico at the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup).

In beating the Bruins on Sunday, Kentucky has now scored home wins over top-10 opponents in consecutive seasons. Last year, the Wildcats dispatched No. 9 Alabama in an SEC matchup at The Bell that saw former forward Jordyn Rhodes become the UK program’s all-time leading scorer.

In 2024, the Cats have now already bagged a signature ranked win before conference play starts at home against Florida on Sept. 19.

“I think you start to see a little bit more of a scope on how we want to play,” Fabiano said of the UCLA win.

UK’s final nonconference game is Friday night at home against Kent State.

Should the Wildcats win that match and improve to 8-0-0 (W-L-D), it would mark the most consecutive wins to begin a season in program history.

It would also add to the dominant way Fabiano’s teams at UK have attacked nonconference play. Fabiano is 20-1-1 in nonconference matches as UK’s coach.

Kentucky women’s soccer eyeing return to NCAA Tournament

This strong start to the 2024 season, and in particular Sunday’s statement win over UCLA, should serve Kentucky well in its pursuit of returning to the NCAA Tournament.

UK women’s soccer hasn’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 2014. The Wildcats came close in 2023 after posting a 9-4-6 record that included a record-setting 13-match unbeaten run to begin the season.

But the Wildcats still missed out on the national postseason, instead having their season come to an end in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

But now, Fabiano is drawing from a massive 40-player roster that includes 25 newcomers (16 freshmen and nine transfers) to try and get Kentucky back to the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time in program history.

“We talk about effort and your attitude, those are the two things you can always control,” Fabiano said. “And they’ve brought it. … It’s a grinding group. They grind. They work. And I think a lot of that can make up for some other things.”

Both of Kentucky’s goal scorers from Sunday’s win, Woods and DeRosa, fall into the transfer category. Woods previously played four seasons at Illinois, and DeRosa previously played four seasons at Maryland, before both women opted to transfer to Kentucky during the offseason.

Woods leads Kentucky in scoring with four goals this season.

“Troy lets us create our own culture. He sets the standard and he paves the way, but he takes a step back and he’s like, ‘This is on you guys,’” Woods said Sunday. “I think that’s why it’s so good. He gives us so much freedom to create our own relationships and create our own culture. It allows us to make it who we really are.”

The 2024-25 Kentucky Wildcats fall sports season is underway. It began with a home win.

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