Kentucky men's soccer begins NCAA Tournament play tonight

The ninth-seeded University of Kentucky Men’s Soccer Team will begin its NCAA Tournament run in Lexington tonight. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

The Wildcats (14-1-4) will host Santa Clara (12-1-4) tonight at the Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex. Tho

Though this is Kentucky’s first game of the tournament, it’s actually the second round. The ‘Cats earned an automatic bid after defeating Florida International University to win the Conference USA Tournament last weekend, giving them a first-round bye and a spot in tonight’s game. They had played FIU earlier in the season and tied before the win last weekend.

COMEBACK CATS to win the @ConferenceUSA Tournament! #BBN #WeAreUK #CUSAMSOC ⚽️🏆 pic.twitter.com/ymWdLGMTfL
— Kentucky Men’s Soccer (@UKMensSoccer) November 14, 2021

Santa Clara, however, begin their tournament run last weekend with a 2-1 road win over Akron in double-overtime.

𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝!

▶️ Eduardo Lopez Perez knocks in the rebound off the Oladayo Thomas attempt to down Akron 2-1 in the 2nd OT of the @NCAAsoccer Tourney first-round matchup. #StampedeTogether pic.twitter.com/Q4bFMJA9n9
— Santa Clara Men's Soccer (@SCUBroncoSoccer) November 19, 2021

Kentucky enters this game boasting one of the nation’s best defenses. Goalkeeper Jan Hoffelner leads the nation in goals against average (.349). During Friday’s press conference, head coach Johan Cedegren called Hoffelner one of the best goalies he has ever worked with. “When you don’t get scored on, it’s really hard to lose games,” Cedegren joked. NCAA

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As far as offense, Cedegren says the ‘Cats don’t really have one standout scorer; though he doesn’t consider that a bad thing. “The quality that we have in the group, I do think when you’re able to rotate guys in and out of the lineup,” he said. “You just wear the other teams down.” However

The ‘Cats finished the regular season ranked No. 15 in the final United Soccer Coaches Top 25, just one spot ahead of the No. 16 Broncos. This will be the first ever meeting between the two programs. However

All seating for tonight’s game is general admission and free to children ages two and under. Full-time University of Kentucky students can enter for free with a valid student ID. If you can’t make it, you can watch live on ESPN+. However