LEXINGTON, Ky. — After one of the most successful seasons in the history of the Kentucky soccer program, the 2007 edition of the Wildcat men?s soccer program takes the field with an exhibition match against the Dayton Flyers on Monday night at the UK Soccer Complex.
The Wildcats enter the exhibition match with Dayton fresh of a record-breaking season. In 2006, Kentucky ran up 14-wins and soared as high as No. 13 in the national rankings, finishing second in the rugged Conference-USA. Behind departed letterwinners Riley O?Neill and Michael D?Agostino, the Wildcats rolled to an impressive 44 goals and was anchored by a stingy defense, which ranked 23rd nationally in goals against average (0.78).
While UK must replace some big guns, it also returns some veteran leaders in Masumi Turnbull, Barry Rice, Jase Griffiths, and preseason C-USA Defensive Player of the Year Nathan Marks.
Dayton opened its exhibition season with a 0-0 tie against national power Tulsa on Saturday. The Flyers are paced by a tough defense, highlighted by defenders Ryan Handbury, Sonny Renner, Randy Dennis, Tommy Watkins and senior keeper Zac Gibbens. Arguably Dayton?s top offensive player, senior forward Tyler Imbrogno, earned a spot on the 2007 Atlantic-10 preseason All-Conference team, finishing as the team?s top returning scorer with nine points in 2006.
The match with Dayton kicks off a two-game exhibition season before UK begins its regular season hosting the annual UK Invitational on August 31.
Kickoff on Monday night is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET at the Kentucky Soccer Complex.
Kentucky vs. SMU Selected for CSTV Package
The Kentucky soccer team with have its regular-season home finale televised, as C-USA and CSTV announced that they will carry the UK vs. SMU match on November 3.
The match, pitting the 2006 C-USA Champion vs. UK, the 2006 second-place team in C-USA, is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET kickoff.
A year ago, the Mustangs spent the majority of the season as the top-ranked team in the nation, edging the Wildcats in a regular-season matchup, and again in the C-USA Tournament.
Wildcats Receiving Votes in the NSCAA Top-25
After finishing the year with a school-best No. 13 national ranking in 2006, UK is receiving votes for the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas preseason top-25 poll.
Two UK 2007 opponents are in the top-25 in the preseason, including Indiana (No. 6) and SMU (No. 8). Kentucky also closes out its exhibition season at No. 13 West Virginia on August 25. Last season, UK knocked off No. 6 South Carolina, courtesy of a Riley O?Neill goal in double overtime.
Rank School Prev. W-L-T 1 UC Santa Barbara 17 - 7 - 1 2 UCLA 14 - 6 - 4 3 Wake Forest University 18 - 3 - 4 4 Duke University 18 - 4 - 1 5 Virginia, University of 17 - 4 - 1 6 Santa Clara University 13 - 5 - 5 7 Indiana University 15 - 4 - 3 8 Southern Methodist University 17 - 2 - 4 9 Maryland, University of 16 - 5 - 1 10 Notre Dame 15 - 6 - 2 11 California, University of 13 - 6 - 1 12 Clemson University 13 - 5 - 2 13 West Virginia University 15 - 3 - 3 14 Northwestern University 14 - 8 - 0 15 New Mexico, University of 14 - 4 - 3 16 North Carolina, University of 11 - 6 - 3 17 St. John's (NY) 14 - 6 - 2 18 Washington, University of 13 - 7 - 1 19 Lehigh University 15 - 2 - 3 20 Towson University 15 - 2 - 3 21 Old Dominion University 14 - 6 - 2 22 Saint Louis University 13 - 5 - 2 23 North Carolina-Greensboro 16 - 8 - 1 24 Harvard University 14 - 5 - 0 25 Connecticut, University of 10 - 7 - 2 2006 Final Record and Rank Shown Also receiving votes: Creighton, Fairfield, Stanford, Ohio State, Illinois-Chicago, South Carolina, Rutgers, Rhode Island, San Diego State, Winthrop, Kentucky
