Kentucky Opens 2025 NCAA Tournament at Saint Louis
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Wildcats (10-3-5, 7-1-1 SBC) are set to face off against Saint Louis (10-2-7, 5-0-3 A10) in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Thursday night at Hermann Stadium in St. Louis, Mo.
The Wildcats won the Sun Belt Regular Season Championship, the program’s first since 2022, earning 22 points and a 7-7-1 record in conference play. Overall, Kentucky enters the national tournament with a record of 10-3-5, including three ranked wins over No. 20 Western Michigan, No. 21 Georgia Southern and No. 10 West Virginia.
Prior to the start of postseason play, Kentucky was well represented in the Sun Belt postseason awards announcement with eight different Wildcats earning an All-Conference honor. For the second consecutive season, goalkeeper Sebastian Conlon was named SBC Goalkeeper of the Year following a regular season in which he recorded an even 50 saves, a .758 save percentage and eight clean sheets, starting all 18 matches between the posts. Head Coach Johan Cedergren earned SBC Coach of the Year for the second time in since Kentucky joined the conference in 2022, as well as the fifth Coach of the Year award of his career.
On Thursday night, Kentucky and Saint Louis will face off for just the second time in program history, with their first meeting coming in the 2000 postseason, resulting in a 4-2 win for the Cats in a penalty shootout.
Saint Louis secured their spot in the NCAA Tournament by winning the A-10 Conference Tournament, defeating Dayton 5-4 on penalties to earn the program’s fifth A-10 Championship. The Bills will be making their NCAA-record 52nd NCAA Tournament and its fourth in the last five years.
The Billikens are led by goalkeeper, and A-10 Tournament MVP, Jeremi Abonnel, who has recorded saves and 10 clean sheets through 19 starts in 2025. On the offensive end, freshman forward Theo Franca features as Saint Louis’ leading scorer with five goals on the season.
Kickoff for Kentucky vs. Saint Louis is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET Thursday night, streaming on ESPN+.
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.
