Kentucky Men's Soccer ranked preseason No. 1 in Sun Belt

Kentucky men’s soccer enters the 2023 season ranked No. 1 in the Sun Belt — and the Wildcats will have the Offensive and Defensive Preseason Players of the Year to help them back that ranking up.

The Sun Belt Conference announced its preseason awards and named league favorites on Monday, the Wildcats loaded with accolades and honors. Kentucky — ranked No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Coaches’ Poll — led the conference while adding four to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team. Two of those standouts were named preseason players of the year, Casper Grening on offense and Casper Mols on defense, respectively. Andrew Erickson and Max Miller join them as preseason all-conference members.

As a team, Kentucky brings back 10 players from a season ago while adding 14 newcomers.

Kentucky’s Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year

Grening, a native of Denmark, is a junior midfielder for the Wildcats who finished with 11 goals scored last season. He also recorded five assists and 78 total shots on the year with 33 on goal. Racking up 1,417 minutes on the pitch, he finished ranked No. 6 in the nation in Shots Per Game while earning Sun Belt Second Team All-Conference honors. He leads Kentucky in total shots and ties 2022 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Eythor Bjorgolfsson in goals scored overall.

As for Mols — also a native a Denmark — he was recently named to the 2023 Goalkeepers to Watch List by United Soccer Coaches. The sophomore standout was an NCAA DI All-America First Team honoree and NCAA DI Men’s All-Southeast Region First Team recipient while also being named Sun Belt Conference Goalkeeper of the Year as well as Sun Belt All-Tournament and All-Conference honoree. Mols was also ranked No. 7 in the final TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Top-100 of the season, racking up 28 saves and an 11-1-4 overall record.

2023 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Pre-Season Poll 

1. Kentucky – 93 (6)
2. Marshall – 91 (2)
3. West Virginia – 77 (1)
4. UCF – 68 (1)
5. South Carolina – 49
6. Georgia State – 45

Coastal Carolina – 45

8. James Madison – 40
9. Old Dominion – 26
10. Georgia Southern – 16

2023 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Awards 

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year 

• Casper Grening, Kentucky (Jr., F – Roskilde, Denmark) 

Preseason Defensive Player of the Year 

• Casper Mols, Kentucky (So., GK  — Aabenraa, Denmark ) 

2023 Men’s Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team* 

• Mathew Bell, Marshall (So., F – Kingston, Jamaica)
• Simon Carlson, Georgia State (Sr., F – Kennesaw, Ga.)
• Lucca Dourando, UCF (Sr., F – São Paulo, Brazil)
• Casper Grening, Kentucky (Jr., F – Roskilde, Denmark) 
• Andrew Erickson, Kentucky (Sr., M – San Antonio, Texas) 
• Eythor Kjartansson, Coastal Carolina (So., M – Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland)
• Alex Karkowiak, James Madison (R-Jr., M – Guelph, Ontario, Canada)
• Gavin Williams, Georgia State (So., M – Cumming, Ga.)
• Morris Duggan, Marshall (Sr., D – Munich, Germany)
• Max Miller, Kentucky (So., D – Lexington, Ky.) 
• Anderson Rosa, UCF (Sr., D – Salvador, Bahia, Brazil)
• Casper Mols, Kentucky (So., GK – Aabenraa, Denmark) 

*Team Expanded Due to Ties in Voting

The top-ranked Wildcats will close out the preseason exhibition debut with a 7 p.m. EST match at Northern Kentucky on Saturday before kicking off the 2023 match slate at the Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex on Aug. 24. UK will take on Florida Gulf Coast at 7:30 p.m. Fans can purchase single match or season tickets by clicking here.

(UK Athletics)