TULSA, Okla. ? The Kentucky men?s soccer team, which climbed one spot to No. 13 in the latest NSCAA poll released Tuesday, opens the Conference USA Tournament on Wednesday at 6 p.m . ET when it faces Memphis for the second time in five days.
The Wildcats earned the second seed for the tournament after finishing one point behind SMU in the league standings. The Tigers earned the seventh seed after being ranked in the top 25 for much of the season.
This past Saturday, UK took down Memphis, 3-1, at home in the regular season finale for both teams. Senior Riley O?Neill scored two goals in the contest to lead the Wildcats to victory. The victory extended UK?s win streak to three and unbeaten run to four.
Last year, the role was reversed for Kentucky, which entered the tournament as the No. 7 seed and faced a red-hot South Carolina in the first round. In that contest, UK battled to a scoreless draw before falling on penalty kicks. The Gamecocks went on to win the tournament.
It is the second straight week the Wildcats have been in Tulsa, having beaten the Golden Hurricane 1-0 on the road last Wednesday.
O?Neill, D?Agostino Headline Six Wildcats that Earn All-Conference Honors: Kentucky placed six members on the league?s all-conference squads that were announced Tuesday.
Senior striker Riley O?Neill, who led the league in scoring, and junior midfielder Michael D?Agostino, one of just four league players with at least five goals and five assists, each earned first-team All-Conference USA honors.
Junior defender Nathan Marks was named to the second team while sophomore midfielder Masumi Turnbulls, UK?s assist leader, and freshman goalkeeper Dan Williams took home third team honors. Both Williams and defender Barry Rice were named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team.
Last season, the Wildcats placed two players on the first team and had four honorees overall. D?Agostino is the only to repeat after winning third-team honors a year ago.
Conference champion SMU swept the top awards as Bruno Guardia was the Player of the Year, Jay Needham the Defensive Player of the Year and Schellas Hyndman the Coach of the Year.
