Alex Ruiz’s Hat-Trick Propels Wildcats Past Detroit Mercy
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Wildcats (3-0-1) remains unbeaten through the first four games of the 2025 season with a 4-0 win over the Detroit Mercy Titans (3-2-1) on Tuesday night at The Bell Soccer Complex.
The win moves Kentucky’s current home unbeaten streak to eight games dating back to last season, with a 4-0-4 record during that stretch.
Tonight, three Wildcats entered the starting XI for the first time, including newcomers Marcus Andersen, Mekhi Haughton-Parris and Luke Shreiner. Graduate defender Owen Mikoy also made his Kentucky debut, logging 16 minutes on the backline. The Wildcats later saw the return of sophomore midfielder Agustin Lopez in his return from injury, logging 31 minutes off the bench, recording two shots and one on target.
The Wildcats opened the scoring during the early going with a goal from midfielder Bertil Alban, his first goal of the new season, in the sixth minute coming off the assist from Alex Ruiz, giving the home side the early 1-0 advantage.
Ruiz would double the Wildcat lead in the 22nd minute, set up by freshman forward Gustav Renman on a low cross inside the 18-yard box, providing Ruiz with the easy tap-in to put the Cats up two just beyond the 20-minute mark. Kentucky would maintain the 2-0 lead on the scoreboard heading into the halftime break after a dominant performance in the opening 45 minutes of play.
Ruiz would notch his second goal of the night, this time coming a 30-yard, wonder strike of a free kick, beating Detroit Mercy goalkeeper Colin Monroe to the top-right corner of the net. The free kick would supply the Wildcats’ first goal this season from a set piece.
Less than two minutes later, and with less than a minute remaining in the match, Ruiz would secure his hat-trick with his third goal in the 90th minute, putting the exclamation point on the Wildcats’ dominant 4-0 win in front of the home crowd.
The Spanish-International recorded his second multi-goal performance through the first four games of his Wildcat career. In his first appearance against Western Michigan in the season opener, he became the first player in program history to score two goals in his first career appearance for UK.
Kentucky dominated on both the scoreboard and the stat sheet, outshooting Detroit Mercy 19-5, including a 14-1 advantage in shots on target. Goalkeeper Sebastian Conlon was only required to make one save on the night to highlight an impressive performance from the Wildcats’ backline, which has only allowed one goals through four games.
On the offensive end, Kentucky forced Monroe into 10 saves in a consistent effort to put the Titans’ backline under heavy pressure from the opening kickoff. The hat-trick hero Ruiz was credited with six of the 14 shots on frame, along with three from Mekhi Haughton-Parris, two from Isaiah Chislom, as well as two from both Agustin Lopez and Joaquin Brizuela off the bench, and one each from Josh Gordon, Luke Shreiner and Kevin Larsson.
The Wildcats will continue their five-match homestand this week on Sunday, as they are set for a matinee matchup against the Bowling Green Falcons at 1 p.m. ET at The Bell.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s soccer team, follow @UKMensSoccer on X, Facebook and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKAthletics.com.
