Kentucky (6-11-1, 3-7-1) makes a conference-leading 12th appearance in the SEC Soccer Tournament Thursday evening as the Cats take on SEC regular-season champion Tennessee (13-3-2, 10-1-0) in the opening round. The match is set for 6 p.m. EST at the Auburn Soccer Complex in Auburn, Ala.

The Cats made the tournament field with some help from Tennessee, Florida and LSU after ending the season with five consecutive losses. A Kentucky victory last Friday over Vanderbilt would have clinched the eighth and final seed in the tournament, but with an overtime loss to the Commodores, the Cats secured the last remaining tournament berth with season-ending losses from Georgia, South Carolina and Arkansas.

Kentucky is the only SEC school to qualify for all 12 conference tournaments. UK claimed the last SEC Tournament played at Auburn in 1995, as Kentucky defeated Alabama by a 2-1 count to win the title. UK Coach Warren Lipka holds an 8-9-1 record in SEC Tournament play.

Kentucky trails 5-6 in its series with Tennessee after suffering a tough last-second loss to the Lady Vols in Knoxville two weeks ago. With 10 seconds remaining, UT midfielder Ali Christoph served a 30-yard free kick into the Kentucky penalty box. After a scrum developed in front of the goal, UT defender Keeley Dowling looped a shot just beyond the reach of UK goalkeeper Liz Butler to score the game winner with four seconds remaining, giving the Lady Vols a 1-0 victory.

UK and UT have split two SEC tournament meetings. The Cats dealt the Lady Vols a 4-2 defeat three seasons ago in Baton Rouge, La., but Tennessee exacted revenge a season later in Oxford, Miss., as the Lady Vols defeated Kentucky in overtime, 1-0.

The 2004 SEC Tournament was previously slated for Orange Beach, Ala., but due to the effects of Hurricane Ivan, the tournament was relocated to Auburn. The conference tournament will return to Orange Beach in 2005.