Johan Cedergren hopes men’s soccer’s experience rises to the occasion

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By Boyd C.M. Hayes

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Nearly five months have passed since UK men’s soccer fell to UNC-Charlotte in the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament, putting an end to a 7-10-3 season.

UK head coach Johan Cedergren has used the months since that defeat to reflect on last season and revise the direction of his program.

In his second season at UK, Cedergren rarely fielded more than two or three upperclassmen at a time as UK’s roster was laden with 11 freshmen and five sophomores. Under such circumstances, Cedergren shoulders the responsibility for their development.

“With six to eight freshmen starting every game, I think it would be awfully tough to get more than the seven wins that we got,” Cedergren said Tuesday. “I think that we were close in a couple of games, but in the end we were very young and very inexperienced. I think that I could have done a much better job at trying to accelerate the learning curve for all these young guys.”

Since last season, attention to that development has been Cedergren’s top priority. With two upperclassmen on the current spring roster, Cedergren said he is using the offseason to ensure that his young team plays with experience beyond their years.

“I think one of the things I had to take a lot of time to think about was how exactly do we want to structure this offseason, winter and spring, so we can get the sophomores to play like upperclassmen this fall even though they’re not,” Cedergren said.

Though Cedergren is excited about the talent of next season’s incoming class, he said his focus remains on bettering the current squad so he will not have to rely on freshmen next season.

“I feel really good about where we are with the current squad, and I think there’s lots of quality coming in. But we’re not going to ask six or eight freshmen to start every single game,” Cedergren said. “It’s probably more realistic that two or four of them will start. I think that’s a better mix with a little more experience on the field.”