By Anthony Crawford

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With the win over Florida International this past Saturday, No. 12 UK Men’s soccer claimed its first Conference USA Regular Season Championship. The win gave UK a 7-0-1 record in conference play, making them the fourth team to go undefeated in conference play in league history.

The win also gives the Cats the No. 1 seed in the Conference USA Tournament, which looks to be UK’s to lose going in.

The Cats are riding a huge wave of momentum, with a handful of players playing some of their best soccer.

Callum Irving is one that may be overstated, but his play continues to deserve the rave reviews he is receiving. After turning in four consecutive shutouts earlier in the season, Irving ended the season with eight in total, seven of those coming in league play.

Between Irving’s great play and the hard work of the defensive line, UK proved to be a fortress in the back while allowing the fewest goals and leading the conference in clean sheets.

Showing its dominance on defense, UK also led in several offensive categories as well. The cats ended the season ranked third in goals (29 total) and second in assists (28 total).

The high volume of assists is a welcoming stat since that is usually a sign of an efficient offense and UK has junior midfielder Napo Matsoso and junior defender Charlie Reymann to thank for facilitating the offense, as both of them are in the top ten for assists in the conference.

It’s no surprise to see Matsoso leading in that category since he came into the season with All-American honors expected of him, but Reymann has been a surprise for the team’s offense.

The wing back has really come on recently, with three assists in the team’s last two games. His ability to make runs from the back is a game-changer for the Cats, especially when he is as good at finding the open guy as he is.

The usage of the wing defenders on offense is something that has become increasingly more important to the Cats offense. Reymann is followed by freshman Tanner Hummel on the other side of the field. Both have the speed and skill to beat their man up the wing, and have more targets in the box.

The Cats will have to wait until Wednesday to find out who they play in their first game, after receiving a first round bye in the tournament. They will play the winner of Old Dominion and Florida International. Both matchups have their disadvantages, but after just beating FIU, the Cats have to prefer that matchup over Old Dominion.

The possible rematch with Old Dominion could be interesting because the Monarchs were the only conference opponent UK didn’t beat, tying them 0-0 on Oct. 24 in Virginia. Old Dominion is also the reigning tournament champion. The Monarchs won the tournament as a No. 4 seed last year, and will look to repeat their run against UK.

Either way, the Cats will look to add the conference tournament to the team’s impressive run this season. It would be UK’s first since 2001 and first since joining Conference USA.

The Cats will kick off their tournament run on Friday in Charlotte, N.C.