After a season in which coaches and players agreed they fell short of their potential, the UK men’s soccer team reconvened.In returning from the holiday break, the Wildcats discovered their head coach was just a little different.”I’ve been extremely demanding,” Cedergren said. “I’m not a very nice guy. I’m very impatient and the guys have put up with me and now we’re sitting here seeing the end result.”The end result has been a special 2014 season. Riding a nine-match unbeaten streak, UK (10-3-4, 5-0-2 Conference USA) is set to host its regular-season finale on Friday against Charlotte at 7 p.m. at the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex. With the Wildcats sitting a point ahead of the No. 5 49ers, UK can clinch the C-USA regular-season championship with a win or draw.Though it all comes down to 90 minutes on Senior Night, UK’s path to a potential title started back in January with a meaner Cedergren. In spite of being picked sixth in the conference before the season and relying on a roster that features 20 freshmen or sophomores and only two seniors, the Cats have responded to Cedergren’s tough coaching and embraced his high expectations.”We worked a lot with the players becoming problem solvers, being disciplined, selfless, humble and having a UK attitude,” Cedergren said. “That means focusing on all the little things, having belief no matter where we go, no matter who we play and whatever happens we do things together.”UK’s togetherness has been tested repeatedly this season, first through a challenging early-season schedule that brought two losses in its first three games. The Cats then responded with a 1-0 win at Notre Dame, the defending national champion.More recently, UK has played four of its last five matches on the road, the only home match coming against defending C-USA champion and ninth-ranked New Mexico. All the Cats have done is win four times and draw once.Considering all that, playing in what amounts to a conference championship game shouldn’t faze this team.”We have a lot of experience to look back on to prepare us for Friday,” Cedergren.The fact that UK has a defense that’s allowed a school-record and conference-best 0.55 goals per match doesn’t hurt either.Cedergren knew junior Callum Irving would be the anchor of the unit, calling his goalkeeper one of the best in the country in the preseason. Irving has been as advertised, but Kaelon Fox, Jordan Wilson, Charlie Reymann and Matt Quick have made the defense elite.”He’s been as good as I know he can be,” Cedergren said. “I think what has been exceeding my expectations is the back four, the guys that are in front of Cally.”On offense, UK relies on sophomore Napo Matsoso, who is second on the team with 12 points and consistently leads the Cats in distance covered during games. Cedergren estimated that 80 percent of UK’s attacks involve Matsoso in some way.”As many games as I’ve watched, I can’t say that I’ve had a better playmaker on a team,” Cedergren said. “So Napo is huge for us.”The role of big crowds at the Bell Soccer Complex shouldn’t be discounted either. The average home crowd this season is 1,199 and UK will eclipse the 10,000 mark in 2014 attendance on Friday. With free admission, a prize pack for the 10,000th fan and “Blue-vuzelas” for the first 500 fans, Cedergren expects to blow past that mark.”Friday, we’re hoping we can get north of 2,000 people to come out to the game and support us, which is I think very, very doable,” Cedergren said.With a loud crowd behind them, Cedergren and the Cats are out to make a special season historic.”We’ve put ourselves in a place where we have everything to play for still,” Cedergren said. “We need to finish strong. The Kentucky men’s soccer program hasn’t won a title since 2004, so it’s about time for us to do it again.”