No. 4 UK to play FIU in Key League Clash
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The fourth-ranked Kentucky men’s soccer team — unbeaten through the first 10 games of the season and riding a five-match winning streak that was capped by a 3-0 win over No. 2 Indiana before a record crowd on Wednesday – will travel to Florida International for a key Conference USA clash Sunday night.
The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET in Miami with CUSA.TV set to broadcast.
The setup
Kentucky with an overall won-lost-drawn record of 9-0-1 (3-0-0 C-USA) and FIU (4-6-0, 3-0-0 C-USA) are the only two teams unbeaten in league play.
Old Dominion (6-3-1, 3-1-0 C-USA) are level with UK and FIU atop the C-USA table, but of course Sunday’s combatants in Miami have a game in hand.
JJ Williams scored two goals and assisted another when UK won a battle of top-five teams 3-0 over IU on Wednesday at The Bell before a stadium-record 3,503 members of the Big Blue Nation.
Kentucky is off to the best start in program history.
The closer look at Kentucky
Kentucky – anchored by a back line of Hummel, Leon Jones, Aimé Mabika and Cole Guindon – has kept eight clean sheets from 10 games this season. That shutout total sends the Wildcats into the weekend tied for most in the nation so far this season.
Sophomore goalkeeper Enrique Facusse’s .29 goals-against average is ranked No. 3 in the nation entering the weekend. He’s saved 34 of the 38 shots he’s faced this year for a .91 save percentage, which ranks third in the nation.
Kalil ElMedkhar was named Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after he had a hand in all five of UK’s goals in two wins last week.
The opponent
FIU is the defending C-USA Regular-Season Champion having gone through the entire regular season unbeaten last year and won a round in the NCAA Tournament.
The Panthers are second in the league to Kentucky in goals with 18 (1.8 per game – Kentucky has 19, a 1.9 per game clip).
They have allowed a league-worst 23 goals.
Forward Santiago Patino, C-USA Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, is tied with Williams for the league lead in goals scored with nine.
The history
Kentucky leads the all-time series against FIU 8-5-2.
Kentucky is winless in three matches against FIU since defeating The Panthers on league decision day in 2015 to clinch the C-USA regular-season title.
After losing in the Conference Tournament a week later in 2015, FIU won 1-0 in 2016 in Miami and the two teams drew 2-2 at The Bell last late October.
UK is 3-4-1 all-time when playing in Miami.
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