FORT WAYNE, Ind. ? The Kentucky men?s soccer team faces 2003 NCAA Runner-Up St. John?s on Sunday at Noon in the IPFW Soccer Showcase in its final exhibition game of the preseason.
The Wildcats enter the contest coming off a 2-0 loss to Michigan State on Friday while the Red Storm fell to defending national champion Indiana, 1-0.
?The result wasn?t the most important thing for me,? said Kentucky coach Ian Collins. ?To me, what is of interest is what we need to work on. We did some good things at times and had some good sequences of play. We created a lot of chances, but we couldn?t finish any.?
Kentucky started the game Friday by controlling play early, but was unable to keep it up as the game wore on, resulting in two second half goals by the Spartans.
?I thought we started very well and created a lot of chances,? noted Collins. ?But, I think the game was played like a typical preseason game. Michigan State was a good team and the game went back and forth and was very open. But we expected that, because it?s early and you had a bunch of guys who aren?t too familiar with what?s going on. A lot of our organizational stuff are things we can correct after this weekend.
?There were also a lot of things to build on. We created a lot of chances and could have had a bunch of goals. So that was encouraging also.?
Sunday?s game should be another chance for the Wildcats to get a number of players some playing time. On Friday, Kentucky played 17 position players and two goalies against the Spartans.
?We?re still looking at a lot of guys,? said Collins. ?St. John?s is a quality opponent, so this gives us a chance to look at what some players can do. It?s still early, so the result is the last thing I?m interested in. It?s more about how we perform.?
The contest will pit a pair of old friends against each other in Collins and St. John?s coach Dave Masur. Collins was an assistant on Masur?s staff before coming to Kentucky in 1992.
?I saw Dave and we played in the (tournament) golf outing (Saturday) morning,? Collins said. ?It was great. He?s a guy that I learned a lot about college soccer from and he?s one of the premier coaches in the country. Dave is still a good friend and it?ll be good to compete against him.
It is the first time the two teams have met.
