Aug. 16, 2002
Cleveland, Ohio — The University of Kentucky men’s soccer program has been chosen as the preseason favorite to win both the regular season title and the tournament championship in the Mid-American Conference, as voted on by the league’s coaches. The Soccer Cats received 44 out of a possible 49 points, including three first place votes, in the poll released Thursday by the conference office.
The Wildcats are the defending Mid-American Conference champions. Last season, they finished the regular season with a league record of 6-0 and also went on to sweep the conference tournament and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cats are currently on an eight-game MAC tournament winning streak and an 11-game MAC winning streak overall. UK has won the last three MAC tournaments and also captured a share of the regular season crown in 2000.
Kentucky welcomes back seven starters from last year’s squad, including MAC Newcomer-of-the-Year, John Monebrake, a senior who transferred to UK last season and led the Wildcats in scoring. Junior Nathan Fleetwood, a national Player-of-the-Year candidate this season, is the Cats’ other returning first-team All-MAC selection from a year ago. Seniors J.D. Stephenson and goalkeeper Greg Raber also return for UK after being named to the All-MAC second-team in 2001. Raber led the NCAA last year with a 0.40 goals against average.
The Cats’ 2002 campaign gets underway next weekend, when they travel to Fort Wayne, Ind., to face Michigan State and last year’s national runner-up Indiana in exhibition play. The regular season begins a week later and is highlighted by the Virginia Invitational, where UK will play Virginia and Maryland, and the Furman Invitational, where the Cats will see Creighton and Butler. Conference action begins on Sept. 27, when Kentucky hosts Bowling Green. UK hosts Indiana on Oct. 16 before playing their final five matches against league competition.
The season culminates with a match against Akron, which could decide the MAC regular season champion for the second year in a row. The Zips, picked to finish second in the league this year, had won at least a share of the league title every year since 1997 before falling to the Cats last season in the final regular season game for both teams. UK then defeated Akron again in the finals of the MAC Tournament to complete their conference sweep.
“We are pleased to be picked as the preseason favorites for the MAC regular season and tournament,” said Coach Ian Collins. “Nine out of our 20 games are against 2001 NCAA Tournament participants and we look forward to great challenges in all of our games — especially in the highly competitive MAC.”
Poll Results*1. Kentucky (3) 442. Akron (2) 423. Marshall (1) 384. Bowling Green 265. Western Michigan 186. Northern Illinois 167. Buffalo 12
Tournament winner: Kentucky, 3; Akron, 2; Marshall, 1
* numbers in parentheses are first place votes
