The No. 3 Kentucky men’s soccer team will play at No.14 Charlotte in the Conference USA Tournament Final on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. at TransAmerica Field .
The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
The setup
Kentucky, with a won-lost-drawn record of 16-1-1, has won seven matches in a row and will be looking to set a new program record for single-season victories.
Kentucky defeated Marshall 2-1 on Friday in the semifinal to advance in the C-USA Tournament for the first time since 2013.
The Wildcats are the No. 1 seed, while Charlotte is seeded No. 3 out of the seven teams that qualified for the C-USA Tournament.
Kentucky received a bye through Wednesday’s first round of tournament play after clinching the regular season title last Friday with their win over Old Dominion – who Charlotte beat 4-2 in the second semifinal on Friday.
Kentucky is 3-0 against teams ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Top-25 at the time of the match this season.
The opponent
Charlotte defeated University of Alabama-Birmingham in the first round on Wednesday in overtime.
Charlotte is now 14-3-1. UK handed the 49ers one of those losses by a 1-0 score line in late September. The 49ers have not lost since October 10.
Charlotte entered the week with the nation’s top goals-against average defense (.40).
The closer look at UK
UK went into the weekend with the nation’s No. 4 GAA (.49).
Kentucky has scored 42 and conceded nine goals to date.
C-USA Player of the Year and Offensive MVP, JJ Williams, increased his new school record of most points in a season (two for goal, one for assist) to 36 with his goal against Marshall.
Enrique Facusse entered the Conference Tournament with a .49 goals against average, which ranked fifth in the nation individually entering the weekend. He saved 49 of 58 shots this season, 85 percent.
Kalil ElMedkhar tallied a goal and an assist in Friday’s win over the Thundering Herd. He is now one assist away from tying the Kentucky single season record.
The history
Charlotte leads the all-time series against Kentucky 4-3-1.
UK is unbeaten against Charlotte in the last four years. They drew 1-1 in the 2017 season at TransAmerica Field after Kentucky won the two previous years.
Kentucky has never won a C-USA Conference Championship title. The Wildcats will play for the title for the first time since 2008, when they fell to Tulsa on penalty kicks.
—
For the best coverage of UK men’s soccer follow the team’s social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in addition to on UKathletics.com.
‑ GO CATS –
For more information contact:
Jake Most