2018 Kentucky Wildcats men's soccer team

2018 Kentucky Wildcats men's soccer
Conference USA Regular Season Champions Conference USA Tournament Champions
NCAA Tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Conference USA
U. Soc. Coaches poll	No. 3
TopDrawerSoccer.com	No. 3
Record	19–2–1 (7–1–0 C-USA)
Head coach	Johan Cedergren (7th season)
Assistant coaches	Josh Oldroyd (1st season) Chase Wileman (4th season)
Captain	J. J. Williams
Home stadium	Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex

2018 Conference USA men's soccer standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Kentucky ‡	7	–	1	–	0			18	–	2	–	1
No. 20 Charlotte +	6	–	2	–	0			14	–	5	–	2
Old Dominion	6	–	2	–	0			11	–	5	–	2
FIU	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	10	–	0
Marshall	3	–	3	–	2			8	–	9	–	3
UAB	2	–	5	–	1			6	–	9	–	3
New Mexico	2	–	5	–	1			4	–	12	–	1
South Carolina	2	–	6	–	0			7	–	10	–	0
Florida Atlantic	1	–	7	–	0			2	–	13	–	0
‡ – 2018 CUSA Tournament champion + – Invited to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship As of December 11, 2018 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

The 2018 Kentucky Wildcats men's soccer team represented the University of Kentucky during the 2018 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 28th season of the university fielding a men's varsity soccer program, and their 14th season playing in Conference USA as an associate member since their main conference, the Southeastern Conference does not sponsor men's varsity soccer.

The 2018 season proved to be the program's most successful season ever. Kentucky finished the regular season ranked third in the United Soccer Coaches men's soccer poll, as well as the Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament and regular season champions. The program made their deepest run in the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Elite Eight before being eliminated by Maryland.

Background

During the 2017 season, Kentucky finished with an 8–6–4 overall record and a 4–2–2 record in Conference USA matches. An early season surge had the Wildcats ranked as high as 13th in the nation. A dip in form saw the Wildcats fall out of the rankings and eventually out of the NCAA Tournament picture. Kentucky were seeded third in the 2017 Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament, where they were upset by Marshall, 0–1, in the quarterfinals. They did not receive an at-large bid to the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament.

Squad

Roster

Updated November 13, 2018

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	USA	Jack Hudson
3	DF	IND	Keyarash Namjoupanah
4	MF	USA	Sam Stockton
5	DF	SCO	Leon Jones
6	DF	COD	Aimé Mabika
7	FW	USA	J. J. Williams
8	MF	GER	Marcel Meinzer
9	FW	CRC	Jason Reyes
10	MF	NOR	Nicolai Fremstad
12	GK	USA	Jackson Hawthorne
14	FW	USA	Daniel Evans
15	DF	CAN	Brock Lindow
16	MF	USA	Robert Screen

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	DF	USA	Elijah Borneo
18	MF	USA	Bailey Rouse
20	DF	USA	John Michael Bandy
21	DF	UAE	Kalil El-Medkhar
22	DF	USA	Tanner Hummel
23	MF	USA	Cole Guindon
24	GK	HON	Enrique Facusse
25	FW	USA	Clay Holstad
26	DF	USA	Nicholas Blassou
27	DF	USA	Luis Hernandez
28	MF	USA	Colin Innes
29	DF	USA	Matt Mazur
30	MF	USA	Ian Farquhar

Team management

Position	Staff
Head coach	Johan Cedergren
Assistant coach	Chase Wileman
Assistant coach	Josh Oldroyd
Athletic trainer	Taylor Eavenson
Director of Operations	Marcus Aldaba

Source:

Schedule

Source:

Date Time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Regular season
August 24* 7:30 pm, SECN+		DePaul	W 1–0	1–0–0	Bell Soccer Complex (1,559) Lexington, KY
August 31* 7:35 pm, SECN+		Columbia	W 1–0	2–0–0	Bell Soccer Complex (1,252) Lexington, KY
September 4* 7:35 pm, SECN+		No. 6 Louisville Rivalry	W 3–0	3–0–0	Bell Soccer Complex (1,827) Lexington, KY
September 8 7:00 pm		at UAB	W 2–0	4–0–0 (1–0–0)	BBVA Compass Field (902) Birmingham, AL
September 11* 7:05 pm	No. 6	at Xavier	T 0–0 2OT	4–0–1	XU Soccer Complex (640) Cincinnati, OH
September 18* 7:00 pm	No. 7	at Lipscomb	W 3–2 OT	5–0–1	Lipscomb Soccer Complex (394) Nashville, TN
September 21 7:05 pm, SECN+	No. 7	No. 18 Charlotte	W 1–0	6–0–1 (2–0–0)	Bell Soccer Complex (1,572) Lexington, KY
September 26* 7:35 pm, SECN+	No. 7	East Tennessee State	W 3–0	7–0–1	Bell Soccer Complex (900) Lexington, KY
September 29 7:00 pm	No. 7	at South Carolina SEC Derby	W 2–1	8–0–1 (3–0–0)	Stone Stadium (1,557) Columbia, SC
October 3* 7:05 pm, WatchESPN	No. 4	No. 2 Indiana Rivalry	W 3–0	9–0–1	Bell Soccer Complex (3,503) Lexington, KY
October 7 7:00 pm, CUSA.tv	No. 4	at FIU	L 2–3	9–1–1 (3–1–0)	FIU Soccer Stadium (435) Miami, FL
October 13 7:05 pm, SECN+	No. 4	Marshall	W 1–0 2OT	10–1–1 (4–1–0)	Bell Soccer Complex (1,470) Lexington, KY
October 16* 7:05 pm, BTN+	No. 3	at Ohio State	W 3–0	11–1–1	Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium (487) Columbus, OH
October 21 1:05 pm, SECN+	No. 3	New Mexico	W 6–1	12–1–1 (5–1–0)	Bell Soccer Complex (1,088) Lexington, KY
October 24* 7:05 pm, SECN+	No. 3	Evansville	W 4–0	13–1–1	Bell Soccer Complex (1,016) Lexington, KY
October 28 1:00 pm, CUSA.tv	No. 3	at Florida Atlantic	W 2–1	14–1–1 (6–1–0)	FAU Soccer Stadium (265) Boca Raton, FL
November 2 7:05 pm	No. 3	No. 24 Old Dominion Senior Night	W 3–0	15–1–1 (7–1–0)	Bell Soccer Complex (1,813) Lexington, KY
Conference USA Tournament
November 9 4:30 pm, ESPN3	(1) No. 3	vs. (5) Marshall Semifinals	W 2–1	16–1–1	Transamerica Field Charlotte, NC
November 11 1:00 pm, ESPN3	(1) No. 3	at (3) No. 14 Charlotte Championship	W 1–0	17–1–1	Transamerica Field (1,008) Charlotte, NC
NCAA Tournament
November 18 4:00 pm, SECN+	(3) No. 3	No. 21 Portland Second Round	W 4–0	18–1–1	Bell Soccer Complex (1,831) Lexington, KY
November 24 7:05 pm, SECN+	(3) No. 3	Lipscomb Third Round	W 2–1	19–1–1	Bell Soccer Complex (1,939) Lexington, KY
November 30 7:00 pm, SECN+	(3) No. 3	(11) No. 15 Maryland Quarterfinals	L 0–1	19–2–1	Bell Soccer Complex (3,228) Lexington, KY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.