Kentucky Travels to Columbia for SBC Matchup with No. 9 South Carolina
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Wildcats (1-6-3, 1-1-1 SBC) are set to continue their three-match road trip on Saturday night against the No. 9 South Carolina Gamecocks (7-1-2, 1-0-2 SBC) at Eugene E. Stone III Stadium in Columbia, S.C.
Kickoff for Saturday’s match has been moved to 3 p.m. ET due to expected inclement weather in the Columbia area.
Kentucky will face South Carolina for the 27th time in program history, boasting a 14-8-4 all-time series record and winning eight of the previous 10 meetings. Last time out, the Wildcats defeated the Gamecocks in a come-from-behind 2-1 win in Lexington, sparking a four-match win streak to clinch the 2025 Sun Belt Regular Season title.
The Wildcats earned their first win of the 2026 season last week in a 4-2 victory at home over the No. 23 Old Dominion Monarchs. Earlier this week, Kentucky led No. 2 Indiana 1-0 at the half in the nonconference finale but ultimately fell 3-1 to the Hoosiers in Bloomington.
Upon his return from injury, midfielder Agustin Lopez has scored both of Kentucky’s previous two goals, including the game-winning goal against Old Dominion and the opening goal against Indiana.
On the defensive end, the Wildcats saw the return of the senior defender Sinan Solmaz to the lineup on Tuesday night, logging 34 minutes in his first appearance of the season. Goalkeeper Benjamin Rasmussen now ranks third in the Sun Belt with 34 saves on the season after his impressive eight-save performance against the Hoosiers.
South Carolina enters matchday 11 of the season, coming off a 1-1 draw against the No. 16 West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown last week, moving their overall record to 7-1-2 on the year.
The Gamecocks are currently in third place in the Sun Belt Conference with five points through the first three games, including a win over Old Dominion and a draw against James Madison.
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