‘How do you replace them?’ UK men’s soccer looks to fill void from pro departures.
Even in the context of playing college sports during the coronavirus pandemic, the Kentucky men’s soccer program is coming off an unconventional season.
The 2020 Conference USA men’s soccer season was held in March and April 2021, but Kentucky was one of a handful of C-USA teams that played competitive, non-conference games during fall 2020.
In January, the Wildcats saw two of their best players turn professional and join Major League Soccer when midfielder Kalil ElMedkhar signed with FC Dallas and defender Aimé Mabika was drafted by Inter Miami.
Then came the spring, when Kentucky finished tied for third in C-USA before losing in the NCAA Tournament round of 16 to Wake Forest.
All of this added up to a final 12-5-2 overall record for the Wildcats, who lost two of their best players midway through a season that ended in May instead of December. After the season, defender Leon Jones also left Lexington to begin a professional career in his native Scotland.
“Making a Sweet 16 was good, it’s not our end goal, but it’s an OK year if we do that… but just looking at where we traditionally place, third or fourth (in C-USA) is not good enough for us,” head coach Johan Cedergren said. “To have three seniors go pro I think is a testament to the quality of the squad that we have. But of course then also if you have three pros that you lose, how do you replace them?”
Replacing ElMedkhar, Jones and Mabika is just one of many adjustments the Wildcats, ranked No. 14 in the preseason United Soccer Coaches poll, must make this season.
The NCAA men’s soccer season returns to a fall-only format in 2021, although Cedergren is in favor of a combined fall and spring season that would allow for more time and training opportunities in between matches.
The return of the fall-only season means Kentucky will only have 113 days in between the loss to Wake Forest and its season-opening match Thursday night at No. 25 Coastal Carolina.
That trip to Conway, South Carolina, also means Kentucky begins the 2021 season with a conference match, as Coastal Carolina has joined C-USA for men’s soccer.
“We’ve known what’s been coming for a long time. So I think we’re mentally ready, we’re physically ready and even more excited that we get to have conference play right away to start up the season,” said Marcel Meinzer, a senior midfielder and team captain from Germany. “We know what’s at stake and we have big expectations and big standards and goals, and we’re ready to accomplish those.”
The expectations and goals placed on the Kentucky program come thanks to the consistent success enjoyed over the last decade under Cedergren, as well as the elevated profile of C-USA men’s soccer.
Last season, Marshall finished undefeated in seven games of C-USA play, winning the conference title before going on to win the NCAA championship, marking the first national title won in a team sport by a C-USA school while affiliated with the league.
Naturally, this drew attention to C-USA’s premier men’s soccer programs, of which Kentucky is one.
In addition to Kentucky at No. 14 and Coastal Carolina at No. 25, Marshall is ranked No. 1 and Charlotte is ranked No. 18 to begin the season.
Since taking over the Kentucky program in December 2011, Cedergren’s Wildcats have kept pace with other improving C-USA teams, most notably reaching the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight in 2018.
Cedergren, a three-time C-USA Coach of the Year, said he likes to schedule between four to six non-conference games each season against ranked teams or traditional NCAA Tournament participants to prepare Kentucky for conference play.
This season, in addition to its noteworthy C-USA matchups, the Wildcats will play Notre Dame and future C-USA member West Virginia at home, while traveling to Louisville on Sept. 7 for a rivalry match.
In Cedergren’s nine seasons as head coach, Kentucky has only qualified for the NCAA Tournament once by winning the end-of-season C-USA Tournament and claiming the automatic qualification spot.
Strong regular seasons have carried Kentucky to most of its seven postseason appearances since 2012.
After not taking place last season, the C-USA Tournament to determine the league’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament will return this season in November.
Kentucky returns 17 players from last season’s team including a pair of central midfielders who serve as team captains in Meinzer and fifth-year player Bailey Rouse.
Should Kentucky use a 4-4-2 formation this season, Cedergren said both players compliment each other well and elevate their teammates.
“We’re going to have to ferry him off once he’s done playing because he would love to stay here for as long as possible,” Cedergren said of Rouse. “Just a team-first guy: Winning tackles, winning headers, playing simple, doing whatever the team needs to do. I think that every team needs a couple of those guys in it.”
“Marcel, I think it’s just another player altogether. I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t go pro after the fall,” Cedergren added. “Just (a) spider-in-the-web center midfielder, sees passes, knows what to do, organizes presses really well, can shoot with both feet.”
Meinzer, the C-USA Co-Midfielder of the Year last season, was one of two UK players, along with defender Robert Screen, named to the C-USA Preseason Team this week.
In addition to the 17 returnees, Kentucky added four freshmen and five upperclassmen to the roster.
Cedergren said this was the first year he’s gone the grad transfer route, in part due to the need for experienced, high-level players that can immediately make an impact.
“They know and understand the college game and there’s less of a transition compared to normal freshmen that have to come in,” Rouse said. “These guys are a little bit older, more experienced, understand what the game and the college lifestyle demands of them.”
Of the freshmen, only midfielder Cooper Kieran arrives straight from high school. Midfielder Casper Grening and defender Oliver Juul both arrive from Denmark, while midfielder Martin Soereide hails from Norway.
German midfielder Nick Gutmann is new to the Wildcats and college soccer, but is classified by the NCAA as a junior.
In total the Wildcats have 10 international players this season.
While a hallmark of Kentucky’s Elite Eight squad in 2018 was top-end talent, Cedergren has identified depth as the key factor for this year’s UK team.
Within this, he specified competition for forward and wide midfield spots and the competition to be the starting goalkeeper between former St. John’s player and Co-Big East Goalkeeper of the Year Jan Hoffelner and Ryan Troutman, who went to Trinity High School in Louisville before later transferring to Kentucky from Bowling Green.
Kentucky’s leading returning scorers are a trio of forwards: Canadian senior Brock Lindow scored five times last season, while Norwegian junior Eythor Bjorgolfsson and senior Daniel Evans each scored four times.
But with depth comes responsibility, both on the part of players to push for minutes and on the part of Cedergren to keep everyone happy.
Only 20 of UK’s 26 players can travel for Thursday’s opening match at Coastal Carolina.
Cedergren said the conversations about the final players to put on the travel roster, and the first ones to leave off it, will be difficult, a good sign ahead of the new season.
“This is the best squad I feel like we’ve had while I’ve been here. 2018 probably had more top-end talent, but I’m only saying that because we haven’t played any games that matter yet,” Cedergren said. “There are guys in this squad that could match that team, but let’s see 17 games from now.”
Thursday
No. 14 Kentucky at No. 25 Coastal Carolina
What: UK season opener
Where: Conway, S.C.
When: 7 p.m.
Live video broadcast: ESPN Plus
2021 UK men’s soccer schedule
(Home matches in all capital letters.)
Aug. 26: At Coastal Carolina, 7 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Aug. 30: WRIGHT STATE, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Sept. 3: NOTRE DAME, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Sept. 7: At Louisville, 7:30 p.m. (ACC Network)
Sept. 12: DUQUESNE, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Sept. 19: WESTERN MICHIGAN, 4 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Sept. 25: At Marshall, 7 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Sept. 29: At Dayton, 7 p.m.
Oct. 3: UAB, 6 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Oct. 6: LIPSCOMB, 7 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Oct. 10: FIU, 6 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Oct. 15: At Old Dominion, 7 p.m.
Oct. 19: WEST VIRGINIA, 7 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Oct. 23: SOUTH CAROLINA, 7 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Oct. 26: BELLARMINE, 7 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Oct. 30: At Charlotte, 7 p.m. (CUSA.TV)
Nov. 5: FLORIDA ATLANTIC, 7 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
