Gameday Information
Kentucky vs. Evansville Fri., Sept. 23 – 7:05 p.m. ET Lexington, Ky. UK Soccer Complex
Coverage
Live Video (subscription) Text Updates

UPDATE: Game time has been pushed back to 7:05 p.m. ET.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — In the midst of a brutal travel stretch that has seen Kentucky men’s soccer travel from coast-to-coast and over 6,000 miles in less than two weeks, the 21st-ranked Wildcats take a break from road trips for a home matchup with Evansville, with kickoff on Friday set for 7 p.m. ET at the UK Soccer Complex.

Kentucky (6-3-1) takes a break from its rugged road schedule over the last few weeks with a home match with the Purple Aces on Friday night. The Wildcats have traveled to Stanford and No. 13 Cal two weekends ago, before claiming the 2011 Gamecock Classic Championship in South Carolina the following weekend. UK will host Evansville on Friday, before hitting the road for a six-day road trip to Florida to face Central Florida and FIU. All told during this stretch, over 15 travel days, UK will travel over 9,700 miles for seven road or neutral site games.

The game will mark an opportunity for fans to contribute to the Southeastern Conference and UK Athletics “Together We Can” food drive for God’s Pantry. Fans who attend the match on Friday can receive free admission by bringing in at least five cans. Food collection bins will be located at the main entrance of the UK Soccer Complex on Friday. Student-athlete volunteers will work the entrance and be able to answer any questions that fans may have.

Evansville (4-2-0) owns wins over IUPUI, Eastern Illinois, Loyola-Chicago and Memphis to open the year, with losses to Wright State and Marist. UE has totaled 1.83 goals per game, while totaling 11.5 shots per game.

The Wildcats are coming off a Wednesday-night loss at No. 3 Creighton, in a matchup of UK’s second-ranked offense in college soccer and Creighton’s NCAA-leading defense. The Jays prevailed with a 2-0 win behind two second-half goals, owning a 16-12 advantage in shots and extended their unbeaten and unscored-upon streak to seven games.

Kentucky has been sparked by a dynamic offensive attack that is averaging 2.20 goals scored per game and 17.2 shots taken per match, in addition to a 72-39 advantage over its opposition in corner kicks. Defensively, UK owns a 1.60 goals-against average through 10 games. UK’s 22 goals scored ranked second in the nation in the latest stats on Tuesday released by the NCAA office.

UK has been led offensively by sophomore forward Tyler Riggs, who has totaled a team-leading eight goals and four assists, with his 20 points leading the NCAA as of Tuesday. Matt Lodge has added six goals and five assists, leading the club with 49 shots. Charles Pettys leads the nation in assists with six, adding one goal, while C.J. Tappel has contributed one goal and four assists. Josh Mulvany owns one goal and two assists, while Jacob Kemper and Dylan Asher each have two assists. Josh McCrary, Sam Brooks, Steve Cabos, Brendan Murphy and Brad Walker have each added a goal.

In between the pipes, sophomore netminder Tyler Beadle has played in eight of UK’s 10 games with 12 goals allowed and a 1.50 goals-against average with 27 saves and one shutout. Backup keeper Jack Van Arsdale has started two games and allowed four goals with three saves.

The Purple Aces have been led by Jesse Sharp, who has three goals and five assists, while Ryan Stallings owns three goals and two assists. Dylan Terry has two goals and one assist with Luis Romero and Joel Nash owning two assists each. In goals for UE Eric Tepen has worked in four games with two goals allowed, while Robert Randant owns two games with four goals allowed.