Sept. 26, 2009

LEXINGTON, Ky. — After notching its first road win of the season Wednesday night in Cincinnati, the Kentucky men’s soccer team return to action Sunday, hosting UNC Asheville at 2 p.m. ET at the UK Soccer Complex.

Kentucky (6-1-0, 0-1-0 Conference USA) is coming off its first road contest of the year, a 1-0 win at Xavier Wednesday in Cincinnati. The Wildcats got a game-winning goal from junior C.J. Tappel in the 55th minute, notching UK’s sixth non-conference win of the year.

UK has only lost once in the last 16 games, which included a school-record 15-game unbeaten streak, dating back to October of 2008. The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the year in the conference opener against Marshall, a double-overtime loss.

The game will be covered extensively on UKathletics.com, with Cat Scratches, the official blog of UK Athletics, offering a comprehensive live blog, in addition to live stats and complete post-game coverage.

The Wildcats have been led by freshman midfielder Matt Lodge offensively, with Lodge leading UK with four goals and one assist. Junior midfielder Tyler Burns has added two goals and an assist, with senior forward Marco dos Santos charting two assists and one goal.

In goal, senior and four-year starter Dan Williams has totaled a 0.56 goals-against average in seven games and 641 minutes. Williams, a native of Fairfax Station, Va., has a 1.09 career goals-against average in 61 games, saving 178 shots and totaling 17 clean sheets, fourth-most in school annals.

Last season UNC Asheville and UK met in Asheville, N.C., with the two teams playing in a scoreless double-overtime tie. The Wildcats own a 9-0-1 all-time record against UNCA, winning the first nine meetings before suffering the tie in 2008. UK is 4-0 all-time against UNCA in Lexington.

UNC Asheville (3-4-1) has been led by Connor Holzinger, who has two goals and one assist in eight games. Zachary Odum has added two assists and a goal, with Alex Koslick charting two assists. Bryan Bartels, Jake Hagedorn, Jake Sides, Eli Morrow and Branden Lassen have each netted goals. UNCA has played a tough schedule, posting wins over Brevard, Lipscomb and Belmont. UNCA started the season at No. 1 North Carolina, suffering a 5-0 result in Chapel Hill, N.C.