Sept. 10, 2002
The No. 22 University of Kentucky men’s soccer team opens its 2002 home schedule on Wed., Sept. 11, when it plays host to the Cincinnati Bearcats at the UK Soccer Complex at 7:30 p.m. The match kicks off a five-game home stand for the Wildcats, who return to Lexington with a record of 2-2-0 after participating in a pair of tournaments where they faced four schools that advanced to the 2001 NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky is coming off one of the best seasons in the history of the program. In 2001 the Wildcats posted a 14-6-1 record on their way to sweeping their Mid-American Conference schedule and making it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
UK returns seven starters from last year’s team, including first-team All-MAC selections senior John Monebrake and junior Nathan Fleetwood. Fleetwood leads the team with four points on one goal and two assists. He was named the MAC Player of the Week on Sept. 3, after leading the Wildcats to a victory over No. 10 Maryland and a second-place finish in the prestigious Virginia Soccer Classic.
Last season in Cincinnati, the Bearcats and Wildcats played scoreless until the 84th minute when UC scored the game-winner. In 2000, the teams had to use two overtime periods to decide a winner, with UC again prevailing. Kentucky has an all-time record of 2-6-1 against Cincinnati and has dropped the last three meetings.
The Kentucky-Cincinnati rivalry promises to produce a top-quality match. The two universities are only separated by 80 miles of interstate, and six of the nine previous meetings between the two programs have been decided by only one goal.
“We are excited to finally play at home in front of our own fans,” UK Coach Ian Collins said. “Cincinnati will provide a very good test for us. They are well-coached and very athletic. They’ll be hungry to come in here and beat us. We’ll have to be at our best to get a good result.”
The Bearcats enter Wednesday’s match with a record of 1-1-0. They opened the season with a victory over Dayton, but dropped a match this past weekend to Cleveland State, 3-2. The Bearcats gave up three goals to CSU before mounting a comeback that fell just short.
UC’s Wiremu Patrick was third on the team in points a season ago and is the team’s leading returnee. This season he has scored two goals and added an assist.
