The Wildcats go into the season looking to build on three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and four in Head Coach Johan Cedergren’s previous five seasons at UK.
The 2017 list of opponents includes six opponents that made the NCAA Tournament in 2016.
In terms of the NCAA’s Rating Percentage Index (RPI), UK’s 2017 schedule includes seven teams that finished last season in the top 50, nine that ended the year in the top 64 and 11 from the 2017 year-end top 100.
Kentucky will open the regular season at home on Aug. 25 against Marquette in what remains one of the nation’s nicest grounds – the Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex, home to the UK soccer program for the fourth year. UK started the 2016 season with a 4-0 win over the same opponent in Milwaukee last year.
Kentucky will then play three road matches in a row – an away stretch that ends Sept. 5 at Louisville.
The conference season begins Sept. 8 at home v UAB.
Kentucky’s non-conference docket includes B1G sides Indiana (away, Oct. 11) and Ohio State (Oct. 25) in addition to Cincinnati area opponents Cincinnati (Sept. 12) and Xavier (Sept. 20).
The Wildcats earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament top-16 seed and the first-round bye that goes along with it a year ago.
Kentucky is a combined 22-4-5 at The Bell, and 11-8-3 away from home over the last three seasons (since the state of the art facility opened).
Cedergren will have 16 returners to go along with three newcomers who spent the spring semester with the program for the fall 2017 campaign. Players will report to campus in late summer.
Wildcats in elite summer soccer teams for summer 2017
Kevin Barajas—Tormenta FC, Statesboro, GA
Tanner Hummel—Tormenta FC, Statesboro, GA
Stuart Ford—Myrtle Beach Mutiny, Myrtle Beach, SC
Jackson Hawthorne—Tobacco Road FC, Raleigh, NC
Keyarash Namjoupanah—Cincinnati Dutch Lions, Cincinnati, OH
JJ Wiliams—Reading United AC, Reading, PA
Alex Bumpus—Columbus Crew U-23
Noah Hutchins—Columbus Crew U-23
Andrew McKelvey—Columbus Crew U-23
Connor Probert—New Zealand U-20s—U-20 World Cup
2017 Schedule
|
Date
|
Time (ET)
|
Opponent
|
2016 NCAA Tournament
|
2016 RPI
|
|
Aug.
14
|
7 p.m.
|
NKU (EXH)
|
|
205
|
|
Aug. 19
|
8 p.m.
|
at Saint Louis
(EXH)
|
|
68
|
|
Aug. 25
|
7:30 p.m.
|
Marquette
|
|
111
|
|
Aug. 29
|
7 p.m.
|
at ETSU
|
first
round
|
33
|
|
Sept. 2
|
8 p.m.
|
at Memphis
|
|
86
|
|
Sept. 5
|
7:30 p.m.
|
at
Louisville
|
quarterfinals
|
8
|
|
Sept. 8
|
7:30 p.m.
|
UAB*
|
|
120
|
|
Sept. 12
|
7:30 p.m.
|
Cincinnati
|
|
114
|
|
Sept. 16
|
9 p.m.
|
at New Mexico*
|
second round
|
31
|
|
Sept. 20
|
7:30 p.m.
|
Xavier
|
|
59
|
|
Sept. 24
|
Noon
|
FAU*
|
|
153
|
|
Sept. 30
|
7 p.m.
|
at Old
Dominion*
|
|
90
|
|
Oct. 8
|
2 p.m.
|
South
Carolina*
|
second round
|
35
|
|
Oct. 11
|
7:30 p.m.
|
at Indiana
|
third
round
|
16
|
|
Oct. 14
|
TBA
|
at Marshall*
|
|
133
|
|
Oct. 21
|
7 p.m.
|
Lipscomb
|
|
49
|
|
Oct. 25
|
7 p.m.
|
Ohio State
|
|
107
|
|
Oct. 29
|
7 p.m.
|
FIU*
|
|
62
|
|
Nov. 4
|
7 p.m.
|
at Charlotte*
|
second round
|
20
|
|
Nov.
8-Nov. 12
|
|
C-USA
Tournament
|
|
|
|
Nov.
16-Dec. 12
|
|
NCAA Tournament
|
|
|
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