No. 3 UK Men's Soccer Begins C-USA Tournament v Marshall
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 3 Kentucky men’s soccer team will begin knockout postseason play when it faces Marshall in the Conference USA semifinal round on Friday at 4:30 p.m. ET.
This year’s C-USA Tournament is taking place at TransAmerica Field in Charlotte.
The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
The setup
With a win, Kentucky could tie the program record for single-season victories. That said, The Wildcats have not advanced in the C-USA Tournament since 2013.
Kentucky (15-1-1, 7-1-0 Conference USA) is the No. 1 seed, while Marshall is seeded fifth out of the seven teams invited to the tournament. Kentucky received a bye through Wednesday’s first round of tournament play after clinching the regular season title last Friday.
Marshall defeated the No. 4-seed Florida International on Wednesday by a 2-1 score line to advance to the second round.
The winner of the UK v Marshall match will play the winner of Friday’s ODU v Charlotte semifinal.
Kentucky defeated Marshall 1-0 in double overtime in early October at The Bell.
Kentucky has kept a nation leading 12 clean sheets this year, tying the school record for most clean sheets in a season with the 1995 team.
The closer look at UK
Kentucky has scored 40 and conceded eight goals to date.
Named C-USA Player of the Year and Offensive MVP on Tuesday, JJ Williams, who set a new school record with most points in a season (two for goal, one for assist) with 34. He led the league in scoring with 14 as well as game winners (seven).
C-USA Freshman of the Year Jason Reyes finished regular-season play with seven goals and three assists.
Enrique Facusse goes into postseason play with a .46 goals against average, which ranked fifth in the nation at the end of regular season play. He saved 49 of 57 shots this season, saving 86 percent of his shots.
Kalil ElMedkhar tallied eight goals and eight assists this season. He is two assists away from breaking a Kentucky single season record.
UK’s 70-percent shutout percentage, ranks second nationally.
The history
Kentucky leads the all-time series against Marshall 20-9-3.
UK snapped a Marshall two-game winning streak in the series in a 2-1 victory at The Bell in October.
Marshall knocked UK out of the first round of the C-USA Tournament last year, and also won the regular-season match in Huntington, West Virginia. UK had won the previous five meetings before last season
UK C-USA Awards 2018
Player of the Year
JJ Williams
Offensive MVP
JJ Williams
Freshman of the Year
Jason Reyes
Coach of the Year
Johan Cedergren
All-Conference First Team
GK: Enrique Facusse
D: Aimé Mabika
MF: Kalil ElMedkhar
F: JJ Williams
All-Conference Second Team
F: Jason Reyes
All-Conference Third Team
D: Leon Jones
Conference USA All-Freshmen Team
Jason Reyes, F
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