The Kentucky men?s soccer team goes for its fourth Mid-America Conference title in the past five years on Friday at 7:30 p.m. when it plays at 26th-ranked Akron.

The Wildcats are the defending conference champions and also brought home the crown in 2000 and 2001. Should Kentucky (9-4-2, 4-1 MAC) win the title, they will become the first MAC team to win the conference four times.

The road to the championship is a rough one as the Wildcats have never won on the road against the Zips, going 0-4 in previous meetings. Akron (9-3-2, 2-1-1) holds the overall advantage in the series 6-4-1. Last season, Kentucky won a defensive battle, 1-0, en route to a perfect 6-0 conference mark.

?Akron is a top quality team. They?re always very prepared and very organized,? said Kentucky coach Ian Collins. ?They went deep into the NCAA Tournament last year. It?s a difficult place to play, a place we?ve never won. So that will present it?s own set of problems.?

The Zips are also still in the conference championship race. With wins this weekend over Kentucky and Northern Illinois, Akron would claim the MAC title outright. Kentucky and Akron were picked to finish the year 1-2 in the preseason poll done by the league coaches.

?This year its game that is pivotal to the conference race and our guys know that,? Collins said. ?We better be ready to play. They will be ready and it?s their Senior Night so it will have a little extra emotion.?

Kentucky has not allowed more than one goal in its past 13 games, the second-longest such streak in school annals. Offensively, the Wildcats will be led by senior Jamal Shteiwi, who is the reigning MAC Player of the Week. He ranks among the nation?s leaders with 11 goals on the season.