Sept. 15, 2009

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The 25th-ranked Kentucky men’s soccer team puts its school-record 14-match unbeaten streak on the line, hosting Alabama A&M on Wednesday at the UK Soccer Complex.

Kentucky (4-0-0) has not lost at home since an Oct. 4, 2008 setback and haven’t lost since falling to then-No. 14 Tulsa on Oct. 8, 2008. The Wildcats are off to the second-best start to a season in the 19-year history of the program and a win Wednesday would equal the 5-0 start to the season from head coach Ian Collins’ 1995 team. In 1995, UK won a school-record 16 games, starting the season with wins in nine of the first 10 matches on the year.

The Wildcats have cruised through their first four games, totaling 10 goals, ranking 11th in the NCAA in scoring offense. UK’s offensive attack leads the league in points, goals, goals per game and assists. Defensively, UK ranks second in goals allowed and goals-against average in the league.

Individually, freshman midfielder Matt Lodge leads UK with three goals and one assist in the first four games of his collegiate career. Lodge, a native of Rossington, England, was named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week Monday, after netting two goals in UK’s 2-1 comeback win over SIU-Edwardsville and assisting in a win over No. 19 UIC Friday night. Junior midfielder Tyler Burns has added two goals and an assist, with 2008 C-USA Newcomer of the Year Marco dos Santos adding a goal and an assist, leading UK with 13 shots.

In goal, Dan Williams has allowed only three goals in 360 minutes, saving six shots. Monday, Williams earned his fifth career C-USA Defensive Player of the Week accolade, the second-most for a defensive player in conference history. With his first clean sheet of the year against UIC Friday, Williams now has 15 career shutouts, good for fourth-best in UK career history.

Last season, Alabama A&M (1-4-0) came to Lexington and handed UK a surprise draw, a 0-0 scoreless tie. The Bulldogs are an athletic team, led by five natives of Uganda. So far in 2009, AAMU has been led offensively by Abraham Kassaye, who has four goals and one assist in five games. Eric Kamya, Rogers Atugonza and Cesar Ramirez have each totaled points. In goal, Paul Musoke and Daniel Obfinsua have split time, combining to allow 11 goals and save 39 shots.

Alabama A&M leads the all-time series with UK, 3-4-1, with UK owning a 3-0-1 record over the last four matches. The Bulldogs won the first four meetings in the series, with their last win coming in 2002.