Kentucky Men's Soccer Drops Another, Loses to No. 3 UCF at Home

The losses keep on piling up for the ‘Cats.

Kentucky Men’s Soccer was back at The Bell on Friday night as they went up against the #3 University of Central Florida Knights. It was the first of a Lexington double-header as the women’s soccer team took on No. 9 Alabama later in the night. The Wildcats came into the match with an unexpectedly poor 3-5-0 record, while the highly-ranked Knights came in at 4-1-2.

UK has struggled with scoring throughout the season so far, having netted just seven goals all year, and continued to do so on Friday as they fell to the Knights 1-0.

Backup UK goalie once again

The Wildcats’ reigning Goalkeeper of the Year, Casper Mols, was out for the second game in a row on Friday. Sophomore backup goalie Ryan Jack stepped into the net for the second time this season. Jack’s first match was a little shaky against Old Dominion as UK went down 1-0 earlier this week.

The Knights started off the match with possession and gained momentum fast on the offensive end of the pitch. UCF had two shot attempts before the 10-minute mark.

Although the Knights came out strong, Kentucky also came out with more urgency than they had in previous matches. The ‘Cats tallied three quick shots by the 20th minute.

Early shots put UCF up over ‘Cats

Both squads were trading shots early on, but UCF gained the lead after they were able to zing a kick past Jack in the top left of the goal in the 21′. Once again, UK found themselves in a 1-0 hole.

Finding the upper 90 ✅#NCAASoccer x 🎥 ESPN+ / @UCF_MSoccer
pic.twitter.com/y6JgOfZ2UM

— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) September 29, 2023

Neither team was able to find the back of the net for the remainder of the first 45 and went into the locker rooms with the Knights up 1-0.

Immediately out of halftime, Kentucky looked flat. UCF did not appear too worried coming out of the gate either, but they were up 1-0 — the ‘Cats needed to come out strong and try to tie things up.

Kentucky did outshoot the Knights 4-3 in the second half, but it wasn’t enough. Even though UK was able to get the advantage over the Knights in shots in the second 45, overall, UCF out-shot the Wildcats 14-9 on the night.

Final.#WeAreUK | #GBED pic.twitter.com/shdBEiOUuE

— Kentucky Men’s Soccer (@UKMensSoccer) September 29, 2023

A combination of a lack of scoring and slow defense from Kentucky led to another loss on the season for the ‘Cats, their fourth in a row. UCF’s early goal put them up and allowed them to come out of the match with the 1-0 victory. Up next for Kentucky is a matchup with Indiana on Tuesday, October 3 at 7 p.m. EST at The Bell.