UK men’s soccer dominates to earn regular-season title, No. 1 seed in C-USA tourney

For the second time since joining the league in 2005, the University of Kentucky men’s soccer team is the Conference USA regular-season champion. The Wildcats dominated Old Dominion, 3-0, at the Bell Soccer Complex on Friday night, ending the regular season on a six-game winning streak and finishing off an undefeated home slate.

UK also won the C-USA title in 2015. Kentucky won four regular-season championships as a member of the Mid-American Conference (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004).

UK and Old Dominion both entered the matchup at 6-1 in conference play and with the title and the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament on the line. The Cats took command early, with Kalil ElMedkhar scoring off an assist from Jason Reyes less than a minute into the game.

Reyes added a goal of his own in the 12th minute to put UK ahead 2-0, and Bailey Rouse tacked on the final goal in the 50th minute. The Wildcats had the Monarchs on their heels all night, outshooting them 16-6. UK goalie Enrique Facusse made three saves.

“Great night, couldn’t be any happier with the guys,” UK Coach Johan Cedergren said, according to a news release by UK. “We scored three really good goals, kept a clean sheet. ... To score after 36 seconds — that makes everything so much easier.”

Before the game, UK honored senior Tanner Hummel. The lone senior on the team, Hummel is the only player on the Wildcats’ roster who was part of the 2015 C-USA championship.

“We have a great team here at UK,” Hummel said. “At the beginning of the year we knew we wanted to do something special. My freshman year we won conference and I wanted another one. The boys from the beginning were committed and driven.



“We’ve been blessed to have this year so far.”

With the win, the Wildcats improved to 15-1-1 on the season. Their only loss came in early October when they fell, 3-2, at Florida International. They earned the lone bye in the seven-team Conference USA Tournament, which begins next Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C.

UK will enter the postseason with the reigning C-USA Player of the Week. Junior forward JJ Williams earned the honor for the third time this season on Oct. 29. Williams had scored in four straight games before failing to net a goal in Friday’s win.

This story was originally published November 2, 2018 at 10:58 PM.