Kentucky Men's Soccer Hosts FGCU to Kick Off 2023 Season
The Kentucky Men’s Soccer team came up short last season, but Johan Cedergren, entering year 12 as head coach, will look to lead his squad all the way in 2023.
The ‘Cats are set to host the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. EST at the Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex in Lexington. It will be streamed live on ESPN+. This will be the first regular season match of the season for UK, which fell in the Sweet 16 to Pittsburgh during the 2022 NCAA Tournament despite entering the field as the top overall seed.
Coming into Thursday’s match, Kentucky is ranked No. 3 in the preseason polls according to the United Soccer Coaches rankings. The Wildcats are also projected to repeat as Sun Belt champions after winning the league in 2022 during the program’s first run with the conference.
Now back in the top three and with plenty of new faces, the Wildcats set out to start off strong against the Eagles. Kentucky welcomes back 11 returners and introduces 14 newcomers, five of whom are transfers and the rest freshmen.
Wildcats to Watch
One returner in particular to watch this season will be sophomore goalkeeper Casper Mols. Mols is back in Lexington following a stellar freshman season where he earned a spot on the NCAA D1 All-American First Team and was awarded the Sun Belt Conference Goalkeeper of the Year Award. The Sun Belt Conference also named him as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year for 2023.
On offense, there’s a big-name Wildcat to keep a close eye on. Junior midfielder Casper Grening was tabbed as the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year in 2022 and is the projected favorite to repeat as the winner in 2023.
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Another newcomer to look out for on the pitch is graduate student Finn Ballard McBride. Ballard McBride hails from Sydney, Australia, and comes to the ‘Cats after playing four years at UC Santa Barbara where he was voted the Big West Offensive Player of the Year for the 2022-23 season.
Mols and Ballard McBride have also been named players to watch for this season by the United Soccer Coaches Association. Those two, plus Grening and senior midfielder Andrew Erickson were tabbed to the Preseason All-Conference Team as Kentucky’s four representatives.
Kentucky ended last season with a record of 15-1-5 while the Eagles ended with 8-5-4. Although both teams played some of the same schools last season, they each have new faces which should make Thursday night’s game interesting. It’s also Game Night at The Bell, so expect plenty of activities throughout the night.
If you plan on attending as a fan, you can purchase single match or season tickets by clicking here. Tickets will also be available for purchase upon arrival at The Bell. Gates will open one hour prior to kick off. Taking into account the excessive heat in Lexington, fans will be permitted to bring one additional unopened bottle of water into the game.
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