The Kentucky men’s soccer team, winner of each of its first two matches of the season by 1-0 shorelines, will close out a season-opening three-match run at home against a top-10 Louisville side Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET at The Bell.
SEC Network+/WatchESPN will broadcast the match.
The two largest crowds in the history of The Bell descended upon the UK campus to see this fixture in its last two iterations in Lexington. The record crowd at The Bell was the 3,368 that watched Kentucky and Louisville play in 2014. In 2016, 2,863 were on hand to see the Wildcats win 1-0.
The match has been branded part of a “Time Warp Tuesday.” Wildcats fans can purchase time-warp-priced tickets for $3 when ordering online through ticketmaster with the offer code “GoCats.”
The first 300 Cats fans through the gates of The Bell will receive a throwback t-shirt.
Fans will also have the chance to enter-to-win a pair of tickets to see Justin Timberlake in concert at Rupp Arena later this month.
The setup
Yet again, these two teams will be meeting the Tuesday after Labor Day. They both enter with a 2018 win-loss-draw record of 2-0-0.
UK is off to a 2-0 start for the fourth year in a row. Tuesday’s match will conclude a three-match home stand to begin the season.
Junior co-captain JJ Williams scored the winner in Kentucky’s 1-0 win over Columbia last Friday, while sophomore winger Kalil ElMedkhar scored in the Wildcats’ season-opening 1-0 win against DePaul on Aug. 24.
Sophomore goalkeeper Enrique Facusse is coming off two-straight shutouts to start the season, and has nine career clean sheets from 20 starts.
The opponent
No. 9/6 Louisville’s 2018 squad returns six starters from last year’s team, which finished second in its ACC Atlantic division, advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championships and ended the year ranked No. 7 in the nation.
Louisville’s scheduled match on Friday v St. Louis was cancelled due to weather. The Cardinals were supposed to play the second match of a double-header with the UofL women’s team playing Kentucky in the first match. Lightning strikes in the area forced the first game to be delayed several hours, prompting the second game to be abandoned.
The quote
“We know them really well,” Kentucky Head Coach Johan Cedergren said. “Coach Lolla and his staff, they do a fantastic job. They have a fantastic team, a good squad. For us it’s just really, really exciting. Hopefully we can get the Big Blue Nation out so we can get a large crowd to support us. It’s a good chance at home against an in-state rival so we’re very, very excited.
The precedent
Kentucky is 11-8-5 v Louisville in the all-time series of the teams playing as varsity teams.
UK is 5-6-2 against Louisville all-time in Lexington, and 1-1 at the current iteration of The Bell, which opened in 2014.
The two teams drew 2-2 last season in Louisville, while UK won the last meeting between them at The Bell, 1-0 in 2016.
The logistics
Gates will open at 6:30 p.m.
Non-time-warp tickets are $8 for the public and $5 for youth and seniors. Wildcat supporters five-years-old and under get in for free.
Fans can purchase tickets online via Ticketmaster or by calling (800) 928-2287, or at the ticket window at The Bell.
Kentucky Athletics is excited to continue ticket scanning at The Bell this season. Season ticket holders can use their provided digital bar codes on their mobile device to gain entry. The easiest way to manage mobile tickets is through the UK Athletics App.
Season ticket holders still receive a 2018 Kentucky Soccer scarf as a gift for their season ticket purchase (based on availability). Season tickets are still available for $42 through UKAthletics.com/tickets.
Season ticket holders can pick up their scarves at the marketing gazebo on match day.
Parking for the match is first come first served located outside the stadium’s main entrance and in the Kroger Field blue and green lots with continuous shuttle service running from car parks up to the front gates of The Bell beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The shuttle will continue until one hour after the match.
Students may ride a campus shuttle to and from the match, which begins running one hour prior to kickoff and includes stops at The 90 and the wildcat statue on north campus.
UK players will sign autographs on the side of the pitch following the match weather permitting.
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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.
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For more information contact:
Jake Most
