By Jacob Most
Oct. 11, 2014 –
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky men’s soccer team will seek to build on its strong run of form in Conference USA with a Sunday 3 p.m. ET matchup with the Marshall Thundering Herd at the Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex.
The Wildcats (5-3-3, 1-0-2 C-USA) are unbeaten in-conference this year, and are coming of their second win over a top-25 opponent on the road this year. UK has just one loss in its last eight matches, posting wins at No. 1 Notre Dame and at No. 21 UAB. UK also boasts wins over Xavier & ETSU and earned a 0-0 draw with then-No. 19 Furman.
The match will be broadcast live on SEC Network+ with Neil Price (play-by-play) and J.D. Stephenson (color commentary) on the call.
Sunday’s matchup will have major implications at the top of the C-USA table as Kentucky and Marshall are separated by just one point atop the conference standings. UK sits in third place in the C-USA table with five points from three league games this year behind only Marshall and Charlotte (in-action at 7 p.m. ET at home vs. FIU on Saturday) on six points each.
Kentucky has begun to see increased offensive production in recent games as Bryan Celis became UK’s second player to score multiple goals this season. His winner at UAB was his second of the year.
Justin Laird is the Wildcats’ leading scorer with three flourishes to go along with an assist.
But the strength of the 2014 Wildcats has been their stout defense. Preseason All-C-USA goalkeeper Callum Irving is allowing 0.43 goals per game, a clip that leads the conference and ranks sixth in the nation.
The Wildcats defense anchored by a starting back-4 of Charlie Reymann, Kaelon Fox, Jordan Wilson and Matt Quick has allowed five goals all year, and with seven clean sheets from 11 games UK ranks eighth nationally in shutout percentage.
UK’s first-choice back-4 has actually only allowed four goals this year as Fox missed the season-opener, in which UK allowed a goal.
Marshall (3-5-2, 2-1-0) is coming off a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Old Dominion, and also defeated South Carolina 1-0 (OT) in conference play this year.
The first 500 Cats fans that arrive at The Bell on Sunday will receive a UK soccer rally towel.
UK fans also have multiple ways to gain admission to the game for free. Those who bring their ticket stubs from Saturday’s UK football game against ULM, and UK students with their student-ID car will get intoT Bell for free.
Single-game tickets are available at The Bell for cash only, ranging from $5 for adults, $2 for seniors (65+) and Youth (6-18), with children under the age of five admitted for free.
