Matt Lodge

What Scouts Say: "Classic No. 10 whose football brain is excellent ... Stocky attacking mid ... Very, very good on the ball ... Great technique and great composure ... The heartbeat of the team ... Question will be his speed of play and athleticism. Average athlete. Not quite athletic enough to make the jump ... Wasn't able to get separation ... Small but he's stocky and strong ... Pretty clever and he gets around ... Finds ways to combine and score goals ... Good soccer player but he also has international tag and doesn't bring enough to the table for an international slot ... Can be an underneath striker and demands attention at that position ... Can be a pest if he wants to play ... At his best in the middle of the park ... Mentally tough kid who has got the ability to will his team to win and he's a leader. Someone you like to have on your team ... Not big enough, fast enough or skilful enough for next level ... Didn't have a great career at Kentucky until his last year ... Bull in a china shop: Works hard, gets stuck in ... Wasn't consistent but with a new coach in 2012 he helped keep them in a lot of games and worked a lot harder ... Has skill set and brain to be a defensive mid ... In scouting reports we always challenged his fitness."

University of Kentucky

* 2009 Second-Team Freshman All-America (Soccer America)
* 2009 Third-Team Freshman All-America (College Soccer News)
* 2009 Second-Team All-Conference USA
* 2009 Conference USA All-Freshman Team
* 2010 Second-Team All-Conference USA
* 2010 NSCAA All-Midwest Region (third-team)
* 2011 UK Invitational All-Tournament Team
* 2011 Third-Team All-Conference USA

2011
Had one of the most dynamic seasons in the history of the UK soccer program ... A force offensively all over the pitch, has the ability to take over any game against any opponent ... Missed three games due to injury, playing in 17 games with 16 starts, logging 1262 minutes ... Led UK with 10 assists, adding seven goals, including game-winning tallies vs. Wright State and High Point ... Had the seventh hat trick in program history in a 4-2 win over IPFW ... Fired a career-high nine shots in the game vs. IPFW, the second-most shots in UK game history ... Ranks eight in UK career history in goals (17), seventh in points (49), fifth in assists (15), fifth in shots (137) and eighth in game-winning goals (six) ... With 24 points in 2011, ranks sixth in UK single-season history, with his 10 assists marking the second-most in UK single-season annals ... Six points vs. IPFW was the third-most in UK single-game history ... Fired the second-most shots in UK single-season history (62) ... Tied the school-record with three assists vs. Tulsa ... Notched goals vs. Wright State, IUPUI, High Point, IPFW and Evansville ... Had a stretch of three consecutive games with goals ... Notched a goal and an assist in the win over Wright State ... Had a goal and two assists in a win over Evansville ... Played a season-high 99 minutes vs. UCF.

2010
A dangerous, explosive and attacking player ... Continued to establish himself as one of the top performers in collegiate soccer as a sophomore, leading UK in scoring for the second consecutive year ... Tallied a team-high 11 points on four goals and three assists, despite not finding his form until late in the year and battling injuries early in the year ... Played in all 19 games with 14 starts, firing a team-best 32 shots and 22 shots on goal ... Logged 1165 minutes ... Led UK with 44 corner kicks taken ... Notched an assist in the season opener vs. Eastern Illinois ... Tallied first goal of the year vs. Iona, later adding goals at UAB and the game-tying goal vs. Indiana, a gorgeous goal from 20 yards out ... Netted the game-winning goal on a spectacular free kick at Tulsa ... Added an assist in the home finale vs. South Carolina.

2009
Had a dynamic season as a true freshman, leading UK in scoring with six goals and two assists (14 points) ... Also led UK in shots (43), shots on goal (19) and game-winning goals (three) ... Played the seventh-most minutes on the team, 1213, starting and playing in 17 of UK's 19 contests ... Became the first Freshman All-America selection in program history, also earning second-team All-Conference USA and a spot on the C-USA All-Freshman team ... Exploded out of the gates in his career, netting his first career goal in a 56-minute outing against Bowling Green in the second game of his career ... Delivered a big assist in UK's 2-0 win over No. 19 Illinois-Chicago ... Totaled first career two-goal game in UK's 2-1 win over SIU-Edwardsville, clinching the UofL Invitational in Louisville ... Was named C-USA Player of the Week and was tabbed to the Soccer America Team of the Week following the weekend tournament in the Derby City ... Scored a goal in his fourth consecutive game against Alabama A&M, the game-winner in a 1-0 win over the athletic Jaguars ... Returned in the scoring column with a game-tying goal at Memphis on Oct. 10, also netting the decisive goal in the following game, at South Carolina ... Fired four shots six times during the season.

Pre-College
Attended Rossington All Saints and played for coach Alan Warbouys.

Personal
Full name is Matthew Lodge ... Son of Stephen and Debra Lodge ... Has a sister Joanne (26) and a brother Daniel (23) ... Born on Feb. 27, 1990 in Doncaster, England ... He was a prison guard in England before he came to Kentucky.