Aug 29, 2013

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky men’s soccer team will open the 2013 season at home on Friday against Wright State, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET at the UK Soccer Complex.

The Wildcats open the 2013 season with the Raiders on Friday, with UK then returning to action on Sunday with a 3 p.m. ET matchup with Georgia State.

UK competed in two exhibition games during the preseason against Dayton and at Northern Kentucky. UK tied the Flyers 0-0 on Aug. 20th, holding the No. 7 ranked scoring offense in 2012 scoreless. UK is most recently coming off a 1-1 tie at NKU in the preseason finale on Sunday in Highland Heights, Ky. UK got a 31st minute goal by senior forward Tyler Riggs off the pass from sophomore forward Caleb Richardson.

Kentucky will be facing the Raiders in the 2013 lidlifter, which is the first meeting with the Raiders since the 1996 season. In the last meeting Wright State won the game 1-0 and owns the all-time lead in the series at 0-2-2.

The Raiders posted a preseason 2-1 record with a 2-0 loss to Marquette and wins against Slippery Rock (1-0) and Duquesne (4-1). Junior midfielder Chris Dupont led scoring in the Raiders exhibition games with two goals, while sophomore midfielder Wesley Cain, sophomore forward Brett Elder and senior defender Greg Marchand each tallying a goal as well. Senior goalkeeper Craig Freehan recorded eight saves in the shutout against Slippery Rock.

UK head coach Johan Cedergren is coming off his first season at UK where the Wildcats posted a 10-9-2 record and made their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2003. UK returns several of its top players from the 2012 season including Tyler Riggs, UK’s leading scorer for the last three years, along with first-team All-Conference USA and preseason All-Conference player Steven Perinovic, and keeper Jack Van Arsdale who brought home second-team honors in 2012.