UK MSOC to Begin C-USA Tournament vs New Mexico

No. 13/19 Kentucky will begin postseason against New Mexico in the first game of the first round of the 2016 Conference USA Men’s Soccer Tournament, Wednesday at Marshall’s Veteran’s Memorial Soccer Complex.
Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
The match will be streamed live via CUSA.TV, which will cover all the first-round and semifinal matches. Sunday’s Championship Match will be streamed live on WatchESPN/ESPN3.
The setup
The winner of Wednesday’s C-USA first-round match will play regular-season champion Charlotte in the semifinals, Friday.
Kentucky is the No. 4-seed. New Mexico is the No. 5-seed.
Kentucky has a 2016 record of won 11, lost 4, drew 2 (5-3 C-USA). The Wildcats are coming off a loss at South Carolina, last Friday, which broke a four-match winning streak.
New Mexico is 10-6-1, and was 4-3-1 in C-USA. The Lobos have won three in a row.
The precedent
Kentucky leads the all-time series 3-1. The Wildcats have won the meeting each of the last three years, 1-0 each time. The two sides have never met in the C-USA Tournament.
Noah Hutchins scored the 1-0 winner at The Bell on Sept. 25.
Kentucky breakdown
Stuart Ford has kept nine clean sheets this season, the second most in the league.
UK boasts C-USA’s No. 2 goals-against average: .61 That mark is 10th best in the NCAA.
Charlie Reymann has the team lead with seven assists, which is the most in C-USA as well.
Napo Matsoso leads UK in goals (eight) and points (20), ranking third in C-USA in points, and fourth in goals.
With eight goals and four assists, Matsoso’s had a hand in 48 percent of UK’s 25 goals this year.
UK Soccer in C-USA
Kentucky and South Carolina play in C-USA in men’s soccer only. The SEC does not offer men’s soccer as a sport, and as such the two teams compete in Conference USA as “affiliate members.” South Carolina is the only other SEC university that has a varsity men’s soccer team. New Mexico is also a C-USA “affiliate member.”
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The best coverage of UK men’s soccer is available via UKMensSoccer handles on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
by Jake Most