ORLANDO, Fla. — The Kentucky men?s soccer team returns to Conference USA action on Wednesday, as it travels to Orlando, Fla., for a midweek showdown with the Central Florida Knights. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. EDT.
Kentucky (3-7-2, 1-2-0 C-USA) enters the contest riding its first two-game losing streak of the season and the first in over two years. The Wildcats had strung together a two-match win streak prior, pulling out wins over state rival Western Kentucky and the C-USA opening win over UAB. Last Wednesday, UK battled No. 14 Tulsa to a scoreless tie at halftime before allowing three unanswered goals in the second frame, en route to a 3-0 loss. Over the weekend, UK traveled to Memphis, taking an early 1-0 lead just minutes into the second half, before again allowing three unanswered second-half goals to fall 3-1.
Leading the way for the Wildcats, both offensively and defensively, has been sophomore defender Barry Rice. Rice leads UK with four goals scored, all coming in the form of headers. Forwards Tim Crone and Aaron Swanson rank second on the club with three goals each. Masumi Turnbull has continued to serve as UK?s set-up man, delivering a team-high three assists. In between the pipes for the Wildcats, Dan Williams has played every minute, saving 46 shots, facing 131.
Central Florida (4-7-1, 0-2-1 C-USA) enters the game on a four-match losing streak, dropping contests to No. 15 St. Louis, Charlotte, No. 11 SMU, and Florida International. The Knights have been paced offensively by Ryan Roushandel (7 goals), Mike Mattson (3 goals, 2 assists), James Georgeff (3 goals, 2 asssits), and Matt Luzunaris (2 goals, 1 assist). In goal, freshman keeper Sean Johnson has allowed 27 goals and a 2.21 goals against average.
Kentucky and UCF will be meeting for the fifth time, with UK holding the all-time advantage in the series, 2-1-1. Last season UK notched a 2-1 home win over the Knights, as Michael D?Agostino and Rice scored goals 50 seconds apart to rally UK for victory over UCF, which scored in the 37th minute. Despite trailing for nearly 20 minutes, UK dominated play, outshooting the Golden Knights 20-10 overall.
Injuries have continued to pile up for a young, depleted UK team, at times missing as many as 11 members of the regular playing rotation. Among the key players to miss playing time this season include Stephen Beiro (Fr., D), Lucas Carden (So., MF), Jase Griffiths (So., MF), Bingy Lara (Jr., MF), Luke Maitland (Fr., F), Masumi Turnbull (Jr., MF), Barry Rice (So., D), Issam Sawtarie (So., D), and Matt Weiler (So., D). Senior defensive fixtures Andrew Alexander and Nathan Marks, the preseason Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, have also missed extensive time this season.
The Wildcats have only netted 11 goals on the year, marking the lowest offensive output of any UK team in its first 12 games since the program?s inception in 1991. Such an offensive drop off is to be expected though, as UK lost 32 of its school-record tying 44 goals in 2006 to either graduation or European professional soccer. Defensively, UK has allowed 21 goals after only allowing 17 goals the entire 2006 14-win season. In 2005, UK allowed 20 goals throughout its entire season, 16 during the 2004 campaign, and only eight during the 2003 season.
