LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky men’s soccer team played nine road games during the spring nontraditional season, with nine different players totaling goals.

The Wildcats played nine road games during the spring due to the UK Soccer Complex getting a deluxe field upgrade. UK traveled to play Dayton, Evansville, Memphis, Winthrop and Northern Kentucky during the spring season.

“It was good experience for everyone playing a bunch of road games against some good opponents,” UK head coach Ian Collins said. “We have an extremely challenging road schedule in the fall so this definitely helped to prepare for that task.”

UK was led throughout the spring by Jacob Kemper, who totaled a club-best three goals. Josh Mulvany, an electric transfer, charted two goals, while Matt Lodge and Tyler Riggs each added two tallies. Christo Nousiadis, Josh McCrary, Charlie Pettys, Steven Perinovic and Brendan Murphy each contributed a goal.

“Overall, it was a very productive spring,” Collins said. “We got some key players back who were missing in the fall and this helped us sort out some things. We created tons of good chances in all of our spring outings and took some good steps forward but the keys are to finish more opportunities and tighten up defensively.”

Kentucky opens its 2011 fall schedule on Aug. 26, hosting Dayton at the UK Soccer Complex and Michigan on Aug. 28, debuting its new pitch during opening weekend. Overall, UK will play nine opponents who advanced to the NCAA Tournament second round or higher, with six UK 2011 opponents advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.

SPRING HIGHLIGHTS