UK Men’s Soccer Unveils Fall 2021 Schedule
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Nearly three months removed from the third Sweet 16 appearance in school history, the Kentucky Wildcats men’s soccer program announced its fall 2021 schedule on Monday.
Admission to all 12 matches at Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex, including next month’s season-opening exhibition contest, are free to the public.
In total, Kentucky is slated for 17 regular season matches following back-to-back preseason tune-ups. The Wildcats—who finished No. 16 in last season’s final United Soccer Coaches poll—will face three teams who also ranked among the nation’s top 25, including the 2020 NCAA Championship winner.
Play begins Sunday, Aug. 15, when Kentucky welcomes Evansville for a friendly bout at 6 p.m. ET. Then, the Cats will hit the road 84 miles northbound for a second exhibition at Northern Kentucky on Aug. 20 at 7 p.m.
Official competition commences on the road for the second consecutive season, serving as the 2021 Conference USA opener. Kentucky’s first of three scheduled trips of at least 400 miles will come against Coastal Carolina on Thursday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m. in Conway, South Carolina. The Chanticleers are set to embark on their inaugural season as a C-USA men’s soccer affiliate, having finished 2020 ranked No. 24 by United Soccer Coaches after a second-round loss in the NCAA Championship to the same Wake Forest squad that went on to defeat Kentucky in the subsequent round.
Kentucky’s regular-season home opener will be Monday, Aug. 30, versus Wright State at 7:30 p.m. The teams last met in a 7-1 UK victory on Oct. 30, 2019, which tied the Wildcats’ all-time most prolific scoring output against a Division I opponent.
A pair of familiar foes from the Atlantic Coast Conference come next, with Kentucky facing Notre Dame (Sept. 3) at home and in-state rival Louisville (Sept. 7) on the road. The Cats opened the 2020 season with a 1-0 loss in South Bend, Indiana, but beat the Cardinals 3-1 in Lexington as part of the nine-game unbeaten streak that followed.
After hosting Duquesne (Sept. 12) and Western Michigan (Sept. 19), what is perhaps Kentucky’s toughest test of the upcoming season will take place Saturday, Sept. 25, in Huntington, West Virginia. The Wildcats will resume C-USA play against reigning national champion Marshall at 7 p.m. The Thundering Herd came out on top of a tightly contested 1-0 decision at the Bell before earning the first ever national title by a C-USA institution last season.
Nonconference matchups at Dayton (Sept. 29) and at home against Lipscomb (Oct. 6), West Virginia (Oct. 19) and Bellarmine (Oct. 26) break up the rest of Kentucky’s eight-match conference slate, though the Mountaineers are prepped to join C-USA as a men’s soccer affiliate in 2022.
The Cats will take on UAB (Oct. 3), FIU (Oct. 10), South Carolina (Oct. 23) and Florida Atlantic (Nov. 5) at the Bell, as well as Old Dominion (Oct. 15) and Charlotte (Oct. 30) on the road. The 49ers ended last season with a No. 20 ranking as one of three C-USA teams to earn a bid in the 2020 NCAA Championship.
Kentucky ended a challenging 2020 season with a 12-5-2 overall record and a 3-3-1 mark in conference play, which doesn’t include a 2-0 defeat of UAB that did not count toward league standings. Head coach Johan Cedergren led the Wildcats to the round of 16 in the NCAA Championship for the second time in three seasons after securing the program’s 11th all-time postseason berth.
Division I championship format will return solely to the fall after an eight-month 2020 season that spanned into the 2021 calendar year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After a one-time scenario in which C-USA regular season champion Marshall earned the league’s automatic bid in the 2020 NCAA Championship, the C-USA Tournament will return Nov. 10-14 at a site yet to be determined.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s soccer team, follow @UKMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKAthletics.com.
