Kentucky Clinches SBC Regular Season Title with 1-0 Win over Georgia State
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Wildcats are 2025 Sun Belt Regular Season Champions!
The Wildcats (10-2-3, 7-1-0 SBC) defeated the Georgia State Panthers (4-6-6, 2-3-3 SBC) tonight thanks to an 81st-minute winner from Isaiah Chisolm for a 1-0 win at The Bell on senior night.
Prior to the match, seven seniors were honored in a senior night ceremony, including Max Miller, Marqes Muir, Kevin Larsson, Alex Ruiz, Owen Mikoy, Sebastian Conlon and Tiago Honorio Jr.
The win tonight clinched the outright regular season conference title for the Wildcats and secured UK’s spot as a host-site for the 2025 SBC Tournament, which is scheduled to begin on Sunday, Nov. 9. The eight-team bracket for this year’s conference tournament will be revealed on Tuesday, Nov. 4 on decision day following the conclusion of the final regular season matches.
Both sides struggled to create goal scoring opportunities in the first half, with Kentucky and Georgia State recording just one shot on goal in the opening 45. Chisolm sent the lone UK shot toward the Panthers’ net, forcing Georgia State goalkeeper Loan Marin into his one and only save of the night in the 14th minute. The scoreline would remain 0-0 heading into the halftime break, with a crucial 45 minutes of play coming in the second half for the Wildcats.
In the 81st minute, Kentucky would find their much-needed breakthrough with a goal from Chisolm, his fifth of the year, setup by midfielder Alex Ruiz, his team-high four of the season, to move one step closer to a title-clinching win at home.
Goalkeeper Sebastian Conlon, who was required to make four crucial save tonight, made his biggest stop of the night in the 85th minute, diving to his right to keep out a shot from Georgia State’s Pavel Romero-Garmendia on the near post, to deny the Panthers an equalizer in the late stages.
Over the final five minutes of the night, the Cats’ backline would help see out another win at The Bell to secure the program’s second Sun Belt Conference regular season title since moving into the conference.
The Wildcats outshot Georgia State 16-13, despite a 4-2 deficit in shots on goal, produced 11 corner kicks to the Panthers’ 1 and controlled much of the possession throughout the match in a 63-37% split.
The Wildcats will close out the 2025 regular season next week in Norfolk, Va. on Tuesday, Nov. 4 against the Old Dominion Monarchs at the ODU Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m. ET, prior to the start of the SBC Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 9.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s soccer team, follow @UKMensSoccer on X, Facebook and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKAthletics.com.
