Printable Schedule
After earning a berth in its third consecutive NCAA Tournament, the University of Kentucky men’s soccer team will not have an easy road to its fourth as it will face nine teams that played in the 2001 NCAA Tournament in addition to an always tough Mid-American Conference slate, according to the 2002 Schedule announced by Coach Ian Collins on Wednesday.
“This is one of the toughest schedules we have ever faced,” Collins said. “We play Indiana twice, and that is no easy task. With nine teams from last season’s NCAA Tournament on our schedule, we are assured of excellent preparation for another big postseason run.”
The Cats will open the season at the IUPFW/adidas Classic in Fort Wayne, Ind., where they will take on Big Ten-powers Indiana and Michigan State in the exhibition tournament. MSU advanced to the second round of play, while the Hoosiers advanced to the national title match.
The season gets underway in earnest the next weekend when UK travels to the University of Virginia Invitational to square off against Virginia and Maryland, both second-round NCAA participants. UVA finished the 2001 campaign 17-2-1. A trip to Greenville, S.C., follows for the Furman Invitational, where the Cats will face 2001 NCAA participants Creighton and Butler.
UK will finally begin its home campaign on Wednesday, Sept. 11 against Cincinnati before hosting the UK Invitational, which includes matches with Cleveland State and Coastal Carolina, which lost to Seton Hall in the first round of NCAA action. MAC play begins the following weekend as the Cats welcome Bowling Green to the Bluegrass.
After a two-game road swing that takes Kentucky to Louisville and Winthrop, UK returns home to face Alabama A&M and Indiana. An away match MAC-rival Marshall begins the final stretch of the season when the Cats finish play against the remainder of the MAC. Following Marshall, a trip to Buffalo precedes home matches versus Western Michigan and Northern Illinois. The regular season wraps up with a trip to Akron on Nov. 2.
Akron, which gave the MAC two representatives in the NCAA field, visited Kentucky in 2001 to end the regular season in a match that decided the regular-season crown and MAC Tournament No. 1 seed. The Cats topped the Zips, 2-1, to complete an unbeaten conference season at 6-0-0. UK then defeated Akron 1-0 at home two weeks later in the MAC Tournament final.
The 2002 MAC Tournament quarter- and semi-finals will be held on Marshall’s home field in Huntington, W.Va., on Nov. 7-9 with the MAC Championship game to be held at the home field of the highest remaining seed the following weekend. The NCAA Tournament begins with first-round action on Nov. 22 at selected campus sites.
2002 University of Kentucky Men’s Soccer Schedule
| IUPFW/adidas Classic | |||
| Aug. 23 (Fri.) | Indiana | Fort Wayne, Ind. | 6:30 p.m. |
| Aug. 25 (Sun.) | Michigan State | Fort Wayne, Ind. | 1 p.m. |
| University of Virginia Invitational | |||
| Aug. 30 (Fri.) | Virginia | Charlottesville, Va. | 5 p.m. |
| Sept. 1 (Sun.) | Maryland | Charlottesville, Va. | 2:30 p.m. |
| Furman Invitational | |||
| Sept. 6 (Fri.) | Creighton | Greenville, S.C. | 5 p.m. |
| Sept. 8 (Sun.) | Butler | Greenville, S.C. | Noon |
| Sept. 11 (Wed.) | CINCINNATI | HOME | 7:30 p.m. |
| University of Kentucky Invitational | |||
| Sept. 20 (Fri.) | CLEVELAND STATE | HOME | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 22 (Sun.) | COASTAL CAROLINA | HOME | 2:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 27 (Fri.) | BOWLING GREEN* | HOME | 8 p.m. |
| Sept. 29 (Sun.) | IUPUI | HOME | 2:30 p.m. |
| Oct. 2 (Wed.) | Louisville | Louisville, Ky. | 7:30 p.m. |
| Oct. 6 (Sun.) | Winthrop | Rock Hill, S.C. | 2 p.m. |
| Oct. 11 (Fri.) | ALABAMA A&M | HOME | 7:30 p.m. |
| Oct. 16 (Wed.) | INDIANA | HOME | 7:30 p.m. |
| Oct. 18 (Fri.) | Marshall* | Huntington, W.Va. | 5 p.m. |
| Oct. 20 (Sun.) | Buffalo* | Buffalo, N.Y. | TBA |
| Oct. 25 (Fri.) | WESTERN MICHIGAN* | HOME | 7:30 p.m. |
| Oct. 27 (Sun.) | NORTHERN ILLINOIS* | HOME | 2 p.m. |
| Nov. 2 (Sat.) | Akron* | Akron, Ohio | 7:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 7-9 (Fri.-Sun.) | MAC Tournament | Huntington, W.Va. | TBA |
| Nov. 15-17 (Fri.-Sun.) | MAC Championship | TBA | TBA |
| Nov. 22/24 (Fri./Sun.) | NCAA 1st/2nd Rounds | TBA | TBA |
| Nov. 29-Dec. 1 (Fri./Sun.) | NCAA 3rd Round | TBA | TBA |
| Dec. 6-8 (Fri.-Sun.) | NCAA Quarterfinals | TBA | TBA |
| Dec. 13/15 (Fri./Sun.) | NCAA College Cup | Dallas, Texas | TBA |
*Mid-American Conference Match
