The University of Kentucky men’s soccer team opens play in the Mid-AmericanConference Tournament when it faces No. 5 seed Northern Illinois on Friday, Nov. 3, atRAC Field on the campus of the University of Buffalo. Action gets underway at 11:15a.m. EST.

The Cats enter competition in their sixth MAC Tournament with an 8-8-1 overallfinish and a 4-2-0 league record. They finished in a four-way tie for first place in theleague with Bowling Green, Marshall, and Akron to give them a share of their firstconference regular-season crown. UK is seeded fourth after the tie-breaking rules wereapplied.

UK is led by sophomore Chris McDaniel’s nine points on four goals and twoassists. His most recent goal gave Kentucky a 1-1 tie with No. 13 Penn State.Freshman Chris Soler is second on the team in points with eight and leads in assists withfour. Third in the team point standings is senior Giovani Fernandes with seven points,while junior Ilkka Jantti has six.

In goal, senior Brian O’Leary has faced 134 shots on the season, giving up only19 goals while gathering 37 saves for a 1.23 goals-against average. He also hasnotched five shutouts, bringing his career total to 18.

Northern Illinois enters the first round with a 7-8-0 record overall and a 3-3-0conference mark. Dan Parisi, who has 13 points on six goals and one assist, leads theHuskies. Rob Berkley, Andrew Conti and Peter Agrimson are tied for second on theteam with three goals each. In goal, Rasih Pala has seen most of the action this seasonfor NIU collecting 52 saves and giving up 22 goals.

The Cats and Huskies met this season on Oct. 1, with UK claiming the lopsided4-0 victory. UK holds a 4-1-0 advantage in the series, with the lone loss coming lastseason. The Cats avenged that loss with a 2-1 victory in the 1999 MAC TournamentChampionship game that gave them their first conference tournament title and NCAAberth.