The Kentucky Wildcats men's soccer team is an intercollegiate

varsity sports In most English-speaking countries, varsity is an abbreviation of the word ''university''. In the United States and Canada, the term is mostly used in relation to sports teams. Varsity in the United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, varsity team ...

team of the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

(UK). Since the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) does not sponsor men's soccer (minimum four schools needed to sponsor a sport, only two offer it), the team has been associate members of other conferences. From 1995 to 2004, it was a member of the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

. In 2005, UK moved men's soccer to Conference USA, creating a rivalry with fellow new member

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, which had rejoined the reunified conference that season. Both UK and South Carolina remained in C-USA men's soccer through the 2021 season, after which both programs left for the newly reinstated men's soccer league of the Sun Belt Conference. In 2018, Kentucky went 17–1–1 with wins against #6

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

and #2

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, both by a score of 3–0 at home. They finished 7–1 overall in conference play with their only lose coming on the road at FIU 2–3. The Wildcats won the C-USA Regular Season and Tournament Titles. They were the #3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, their highest until 2022. In 2022, Kentucky finished the regular season at 14-0-5 with wins against #10 Louisville and #21 Lipscomb at home, both by scores of 3-2. They also tied against #20

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

in Tulsa 1-1 and #7

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

in Lexington 1-1. All four of these games in a two week span from September 6th to September 20th. They finished 5-0-3 and Sun Belt Regular Season and Tournament Champions. They were awarded the #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, the first time in school history. The school has two major rivalries, one traditional and one unique since they are an all-sports in-conference competition, but in this sport is a rivalry because of its nature. * ''Governor's Cup'': Against in-state rival

, the traditional all-sports rivalry between Louisville (ACC) and Kentucky (SBC). * '' SEC Derby'': While UK and

are not regarded as major SEC rivals in other sports, the two schools are the only SEC members that sponsor varsity men's soccer teams. UK left the Mid-American Conference after the 2004 season when South Carolina rejoined the reunified Conference USA, in which it had last been a member in 1994 (when it was the Metro). The two schools moved men's soccer together to the Sun Belt Conference for 2022. Both schools have referred to the rivalry as the ''Southeastern Conference Men's Championship''.

Notable former players

* * Andy Gruenebaum * Riley O'Neill * Michael D'Agostino * Barry Rice * Jason Griffiths * Callum Irving * Napo Matsoso * JJ Williams * Aimé Mabika * Brett Smith

References

External links

* 1991 establishments in Kentucky {{Kentucky-footyclub-stub