Kentucky Men's Soccer Starts Season Off Strong With Exhibition Win

Soccer is back in the Bluegrass, and the ‘Cats are ready to roll.

The No. 3 ranked Kentucky Men’s Soccer team kicked off the 2023-24 season on Sunday afternoon at The Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex in Lexington. The Wildcats hosted Southern Indiana University for the first of two exhibition matches.

With high expectations coming into this season after finishing last year ranked as the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, UK is looking to come out strong with revenge on the mind. The ‘Cats had a disappointing ending to the 2022-23 season after falling to Pittsburgh in the Sweet 16.

Slow start for both squads

On Sunday, Kentucky started out with possession, but neither team could find any momentum on the offensive end of the field. Up until the 16th minute of the match, both teams were slow, but then sophomore and Lexington native Max Miller found his teammate Finn Ballard McBride to put the Wildcats up 1-0.

The momentum quickly fell for the ‘Cats as Southern Indiana tied it up in the 18’. Although the Eagles got even, UK took the energy back quickly in the 20′ as sophomore Mathias Yohannes was able to find the back of the net to put the ‘Cats up once again at 2-1.

The rest of the first half was sloppy on both sides of the field as the score remained 2-1 in favor of Kentucky going into halftime.

A dominant second half from the ‘Cats

At the start of the second half, Southern Indiana maintained possession of the ball up until the 54′ when Kentucky junior Casper Grening got an incredible cross in from fellow ‘Cat Silas Borgman to go up 3-1.

It was a rough match following the third score from UK as the Eagles seemed frustrated by their lack of scoring and received a few different yellow cards for various players. The roughness did not seem to bother the Wildcats though as an assist from Grening led to a fourth goal courtesy of McBride in the 78′.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net following the ‘Cats fourth and final goal. At the end of the 90 minutes, UK came out on top 4-1 and got the win over the Eagles for their first unofficial match of the 2023 season.

🚨CATS WIN🚨

UK: 4
SIU: 1

‘Cats came out strong and finished strong. Although it was a little slow at times, at the end of 90 they finished well with a 4-1 dub. pic.twitter.com/dg37KjlxwX

— katelyn perkins (@KPerkinsKSR) August 13, 2023

Kentucky will next travel up north just about an hour away on Saturday, August 19 to take on the Northern Kentucky Norse in Highland Heights at 7 p.m. for their last exhibition match before they get into regular season play. The season-opener is set for Thursday, August 24 in Lexington against Florida Gulf Coast.