Aug. 16, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Under the direction of first-year head coach Johan Cedergren, the Kentucky men’s soccer team will play its lone exhibition game of the year, traveling to face Northern Kentucky University at 7 p.m. ET at NKU Soccer Stadium.
Kentucky will play its only exhibition game on Friday at NKU, with the Norse transitioning to its inaugural Division I schedule. UK will face NKU, before kicking off the regular season on Aug. 26 at Dayton. UK will then travel to the Gamecock Classic, hosted by South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., with UK facing Northwestern and St. Johns (Aug. 31-Sept. 2).
The Wildcats return its three top scorers from the 2011 season, including senior Matt Lodge, junior Tyler Riggs and senior Charley Pettys. UK also returns junior Dylan Asher, who was named preseason All-Conference USA in a voting of the league coaches.
In 2012, UK posted a 9-9-2 season with a 2-5-1 mark in C-USA action. The Wildcats got off to a strong start and posted wins over ranked foes, including No. 9 Michigan, a 5-1 smashing of No. 15 Brown and vs. No. 15 SMU. The Wildcats set a new school record with 49 assists on the year, netting 1.75 goals per game.
UK will face a Northern Kentucky team that boasts former longtime UK assistant coach Jeff Chaney on the coaching staff. Chaney joined the Norse staff in its NCAA Division I transition after a decorated career as the top assistant for the Wildcats.
During its club-sport era, UK faced NKU in 1980, the first year of NKU soccer, with the Norse winning 2-0.
