UK men’s soccer keeps it rolling with first C-USA tournament title

Kentucky’s men’s soccer team, ranked No. 3 nationally, won its eighth straight match and set a new program record for single-season victories while defeating host Charlotte 1-0 in the championship of the Conference USA Tournament on Sunday in North Carolina.

It was the first C-USA tournament title for the top-seeded Wildcats (17-1-1), who earned an automatic bid the NCAA Tournament. UK was C-USA runner-up in 2006 and 2008. The Cats won three Mid-American Conference Tournament titles in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

JJ Williams, the tournament’s offensive MVP, scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 46th minute. Williams, who was previously named C-USA Player of the Year and Offensive MVP, has scored at least once in six of UK’s last seven matches.

Kentucky goalkeeper Enrique Facusse, the tournament’s defensive MVP, made three saves.

The Cats’ Kalil ElMedkhar and Tanner Hummel were also named to the all-tournament team.

It was the first home loss of the season for 14th-ranked Charlotte (14-4-1). The 49ers outshot the Cats 19-8.

“This is a really tough place to play,” assistant coach Josh Oldroyd said, according to a news release by UK Athletics. “We talk all the time about putting in professional-style, disciplined performances and I thought that was that today. I don’t think we’d played a full 90 minutes on the road that was a total game, and I thought today was. The guys battled until the end.”

The NCAA Tournament selection show is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday on NCAA.com.

This story was originally published November 11, 2018 at 6:32 PM.