Men's Soccer
No. 3 UK Men's Soccer to Face No. 14 Charlotte in C-USA Tournament Final

No. 3 UK Men's Soccer to Face No. 14 Charlotte in C-USA Tournament Final

by Jake Most

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 3 Kentucky men’s soccer team will play at No.14 Charlotte in the Conference USA Tournament Final on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET at TransAmerica Field . 

The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.  

The setup
Kentucky, with a won-lost-drawn record of 16-1-1, has won seven matches in a row and will be looking to set a new program record for single-season victories.
 
Kentucky defeated Marshall 2-1 on Friday in the semifinal to advance in the C-USA Tournament for the first time since 2013.
 
The Wildcats are the No. 1 seed, while Charlotte is seeded No. 3 out of the seven teams that qualified for the C-USA Tournament.
 
Kentucky received a bye through Wednesday’s first round of tournament play after clinching the regular season title last Friday with their win over Old Dominion – who Charlotte beat 4-2 in the second semifinal on Friday.

Kentucky is 3-0 against teams ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Top-25 at the time of the match this season.
 
The opponent

Charlotte defeated University of Alabama-Birmingham in the first round on Wednesday in overtime.
 
Charlotte is now 14-3-1. UK handed the 49ers one of those losses by a 1-0 score line in late September. The 49ers have not lost since October 10 .  

Charlotte entered the week with the nation’s top goals-against average defense (.40).
 
The closer look at UK
UK went into the weekend with the nation’s No. 4 GAA (.49).
 
Kentucky has scored 42 and conceded nine goals to date.
 
C-USA Player of the Year and Offensive MVP, JJ Williams, increased his new school record of most points in a season (two for goal, one for assist) to 36 with his goal against Marshall.
  
Enrique Facusse entered the Conference Tournament with a .49 goals against average, which ranked fifth in the nation individually entering the weekend. He saved 49 of 58 shots this season, 85 percent. 
 
Kalil ElMedkhar tallied a goal and an assist in Friday’s win over the Thundering Herd. He is now one assist away from tying  the  Kentucky single season record.
  
The history
Charlotte leads the all-time series against Kentucky 4-3-1.
 
UK is unbeaten against Charlotte in the last four years. They drew 1-1 in the 2017 season at TransAmerica Field after Kentucky won the two previous years.
 
Kentucky has never won a C-USA Conference Championship title. The Wildcats will play for the title for the first time since 2008, when they fell to Tulsa on penalty kicks.


For the best coverage of UK men’s soccer follow the team’s social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in addition to on UKathletics.com.
 

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