It's been a year since that 3-0 Wildcat victory, and nearly three since Rodgers decided to take the head coach position at Ohio.
Last time Ohio coach Aaron Rodgers returned to Lexington, a rain-soaked Wendell and Vickie Soccer Complex and an abundance of memories were there to greet him.
The complex had just been unveiled, and Rodgers watched the team that he helped build tear his new team apart for 90 minutes.
It's been a year since that 3-0 Wildcat victory, and nearly three since Rodgers decided to take the head coach position at Ohio, but his times at Kentucky will always stay with him.
"I have special memories of UK and Lexington and the girls that I used to coach and/or recruit," Rodgers said. "They're a wonderful team and ... I would imagine that they have the potential to do very well this year again."
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It was goalkeeper Nicole Amari who excelled for Rodgers last year, and his new goalkeepers, transfer Vanessa Cordoba and freshman Erin Beurket, will be a point of interest in this game as well. Both have faced massive tests against the likes of Purdue and Detroit, but Kentucky will provide a different test.
"Right now I think they're both putting in great work and doing a great job of giving us a chance to win," Rodgers said of Cordoba and Beurket preparing for Kentucky.
The Wildcats lie just outside the top-25 best teams in the country, and are fresh off a trip to the Sweet 16 in last year's NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, the Bobcats haven't scored in 318 minutes and are struggling to adjust to a new back line. Even through all of this, Rodgers is confident his team can gain some offensive drive before his return to the school where he spent four seasons.
"I think we need to start gaining some consistency and continuity with our group," Rodgers said. "And as we get further out in the year we will kind of solidify a starting XI ... and I think we'll start seeing more goals go in and we'll continue to create more and more chances."
That will be preceded by a Friday trip to Marshall, in which Ohio will look to rebound from three straight losses to start the season. The Bobcats haven't faced the Thundering Herd in three years, and Rodgers was excited for the resurrection of the rivalry.
"That's a huge game for us being kind of a local rivalry. A lot of history between Ohio University and Marshall," he said. "We had a great game with them in the spring and we have a lot of motivation to go in there and get a result. So I'm really looking forward to that."
Ohio will need to get a result before a seemingly easy trip to winless Robert Morris on Sept. 11. Two wins would be huge before taking on Xavier the following week in the Bobcats' last game before beginning their conference schedule against the Buffalo Bulls.
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