Kentucky men’s soccer (1–0–1) took on the Virginia Tech Hokies (2–0–1) on Monday, Sept. 2, in a match that resulted in a 2-2 draw.
While many teams across multiple different sports like to start their seasons with easier opponents to help build confidence, UK head coach Johan Cedergren opted to take a different approach.
The Wildcats have now played two non-conference teams to start their season. Both Virginia Tech and the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles entered The Bell undefeated. Kentucky handed the Golden Eagles their first loss of the season but ultimately couldn’t do the same for the Hokies.
To Cedergren, playing talented teams is important so his players can learn from the other teams and their mistakes.
“The reason to why we play such a tough non-conference schedule is to get the guys battle tested before we get into conference,” Cedergren said.
Against a strong opponent, the match started hot as the Wildcats took an early 2–0 lead in the 38th minute. Kentucky played an aggressive game, gaining two yellow cards, one in the 34th minute on freshman Mateo Franzotti and another in the 40th minute on sophomore Marqes Muir. The second yellow card paved the way for the Hokies to score their first goal from the penalty spot and, after Virginia Tech hit the back of the net for the first time, Kentucky’s confidence was visibly shaken.
Hence where the learning curve comes into play.
As the Hokies started to build their momentum, the Wildcats struggled to keep up.
This isn’t shocking as Kentucky’s roster consists of 11 freshmen, six sophomores, four juniors, two seniors and one fifth-year senior. Since underclassmen make up the majority of the team and multiple of the veterans are incoming transfers, the Wildcats are still trying to figure out where all their players fit into the grand scheme.
“I think that [Virginia Tech] offered us some really complicated pictures,” Cedergren said. “I think with 11 new guys coming in this fall we are still working on making sure that everyone sees the same picture and sorting out things defensively that we can do a little better with our structure.”
Part of that figuring things out comes from freshman being willing to take risks and make plays, something that was on display when the first goal of the night came from freshman Agustin Lopez after a foul on the Hokies. Despite that, while Lopez was a strong and key player in the match, he began losing self-control as the game progressed.
“I think, again, for our system to work, we need a really creative attack in midfield like [Lopez],” Cedergren said. “So, again, it is really about combining that flare and creativity with still having to be physical when it’s needed. I thought he got out-muscled a couple times. […] as the second half wore in, we needed someone to have a little composure on the ball and someone to spin their man. He will be one of those guys that we hope that could do better on Friday for us.”
The schedule won’t get any easier immediately for the Cats as they take on the Wisconsin Badgers (4–0) this Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Wildcats are looking to add another match to their win column and Cedergren hopes his players can learn from their mistakes and go into their next game ready to clean up the field.
“The guys are just excited to play other good teams,” he said. “I think that it was not a good performance up there and we were chasing in the second half, trying to get back. We just could not figure out a way. We are just excited to have Wisconsin come back here and, hopefully, we can pack The Bell on Friday and get another good performance.”
