Kentucky Men’s soccer went 8-8-4 last year, losing to Marshall in the Sun Belt Conference and losing to Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament.
While not a bad season per se, it left fans disappointed and eager for a new season for redemption after being the No. 1 overall team in the country the year prior.
With that in mind, it’s hard to imagine fans feeling optimistic about the start Kentucky had had to its 2024 season.
Kentucky began the season ready for a comeback, beating Oral Roberts 3-2. Isaiah Chisolm, Logan Dorsey and Oliver Stavdal scored the Cats’ three goals to overcome the Golden Eagles, making fans excited and eager for the upcoming match against Virginia Tech.
When the match arrived, it started promisingly with freshman Agustin Lopez scoring his fist goals with the Cats. It was followed by another first timer goal for Nick Zielonka, giving the Cats a 2-0 lead.
Unfortunately for the Wildcat faithful, Virginia Tech then took a free kick and scored before finding another goal to leave the match in a 2-2 draw.
After the match head coach Johan Cedergren insisted that he was aware of the pressure to overcome last season and expressed confidence in the program’s ability to be better.
“The staff has done a fantastic job finding players who can help us return to the level we were at in 2022, not like last year,” he said.
Despite that, the team has shown just the opposite of growth in play.
Last year, the Cats lost to Wisconsin 1-0 and fans were left eager to see the turnaround coming for this year, but the excitement fell short when the Cats lost this year to the Badgers once again 1-0 after a late goal.
To make matters worse, following the Wisconsin game, the Cats fell again to Louisville. Despite the stands being packed with 1,439 fans, the Cats could not steal a win and it was once again a late goal that sealed the 1-0 final.
Early on, Kentucky seemed to be capable of rising to the occasion against teams such as Oral Roberts, but when faced with the obstacle of challenging teams such as future opponent Marshall that it has beaten in the past, the Cats’ skills have been falling short.
Offensively, the Cats are not attacking the ball with the force and confidence the players have presented previously and goals have been hard to come by.
When looking at the stats of Lipscomb, the Cats’ next opponent, Kentucky won last year 3-2 as Dorsey was the main goal scorer of the game.
Fortunately for the Cats, Dorsey is still on the team. Unfortunately, in three games, Dorsey has just one goal and it was in the opener.
Certainly, it’s far too early to overreact to just four matches, but the Wildcats are facing an important crossroads as conference play looms. If results don’t begin to change, UK could be facing another 2023 season.
The Wildcats will face off against Lipscomb on Saturday, Sept. 14, in the Lipscomb Soccer Complex in Nashville, Tennessee.