Sept. 12, 2008
LEXINGTON, Ky. —
After returning from a weekend west coast road swing that saw the Kentucky men’s soccer team battle two of the top programs in the nation, UK returns to action, traveling to the Queen City to face the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET at Gettler Stadium.
Kentucky
(2-2) opened up its season in historic fashion, pummeling Central Arkansas and Detroit by a combined 11-0 score to claim the UK Invitational. The Wildcats faced a daunting challenge after its first two dominating matches, traveling to face UC Santa Barbara – the 2006 National Champions – in a nationally televised match in front of 2,753 fans. UK battled the seventh-ranked Gauchos to a 1-0 result, missing several chances in the first half to even up the contest. On Sunday, the Wildcats faced then-No. 24 Cal Poly in front of 1,313 fans, suffering a 3-1 defeat, including allowing a goal in the 89th minute.
Senior forward Michael Strong has led the way offensively, tallying four goals in his first four games since 2006. Strong leads UK with nine points, while freshmen forwards Taylor White (2 goals, 2 assists) and Marco dos Santos (2 goals) and junior midfielder George Davis IV (1 goal, 2 assists) rank tied for third on the club with four points. In goal, UK keeper Dan Williams has posted a 1.05 goals against average in 342 minutes, saving eight shots and posting a shutout.
Preseason All-America defender Barry Rice, one of two Conference USA players on the M.A.C Hermann Trophy Player of the Year Watch List, has logged four starts, playing a team-best 336 minutes, with one assist. A year ago, Rice led UK with seven goals, six coming in the form of headers.
Cincinnati
(2-1-1) has opened the season with wins over Xavier and Green Bay, both 1-0 results. UC suffered defeats vs. Loyola-Chicago and at Akron, falling to the Zips Sunday 2-1. Branden Stelmak has led the way for the Bearcats with two goals and an assist, while Matt Bahner has chipped in the other UC goal. In goal, Matt Williams has worked all 380 minutes in 2008, posting a 0.47 goals against average and three shutouts.
UK
leads C-USA in nearly every offensive category, ranking first in points (36), goals (12), goals per game (3.00), assists (12) and assists per game (3.00). Strong ranks as the league leader in points (9), points per game (2.25) goals (4) and goals per game (1.00), checking in second in shots (13) and third in shots per game (3.25). White and Davis IV rank tied for the conference lead with two assists.
Kentucky
and Cincinnati will be meeting for the 13th time in the series, which dates back to 1992. UC leads the series 4-6-2, but the Wildcats have not suffered a defeat since 2001, going 4-0 since a 2001 setback at UC. The Wildcats biggest win in the series came in 2003 when UK advanced in the NCAA Tournament on penalty kicks, 4-2. UK is 1-4 in games played at Cincinnati.
