Kentucky men’s soccer (10-2-5, 7-1-1 SBC) escaped with a win over Coastal Carolina (3-9-2, 2-6-1 SBC) in penalty kicks, 0-0 (6-5).

Despite coming into the preseason polls No. 4 in the Sun Belt, the Wildcats exceeded expectations and clawed their way to the top spot in the conference. Their prize was facing the lowest seeded team in the tournament, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. 

After narrowly sneaking into the tournament thanks to a 1-1 draw against James Madison, the Chanticleers looked to play spoilers in Lexington.

The story of the game was relentless defense, mostly on the part of Coastal Carolina. It seemed as though Kentucky was giving pressure on the Chanticleer’s side the entire time. Throughout the match, which included two 10-minute overtimes, Kentucky almost doubled Coastal’s shots 15-8.

This shot fluctuation still did not result in a score, although goals were called back for both teams due to a handball for Coastal and an offsides for Kentucky.

Despite a depleted roster due to injuries, it seemed as though exhaustion didn’t become a factor for Coastal, as penalty kicks ensued after 110 minutes of playing time with neither team scoring in either half or overtime. The very fact that the Chanticleer’s made it to penalty kicks is impressive when looking at the number of substitutions for both teams.

Throughout the match, Coastal had just two substitutions to Kentucky’s seven. The Wildcats kept fresh legs constantly on the field, and despite not scoring, it still showed in the pressure they created.

“Credit to Coastal Carolina and the stuff that they’ve gone through this year,” Kentucky’s Head Coach Johan Cedergren said. “With coaching turnover and preseason and being limited with squad size. But I thought they really tested us today.” 

Even through the first round of penalty kicks, neither side could gain an advantage. Whether Kentucky would make or miss its shot, the Chanticleer’s matched the result for the first seven shots of each team.

Kentucky’s Oliver Stavdal then found the back of the net on his penalty kick which made the tally 6-5 and forced Coastal into a must-make situation.

Jimson St. Louis of Coastal stepped up to take a shot against the Cats’ Sebastian Conlon, who was recently awarded his second consecutive Sun Belt Goalkeeper of the Year award. Staying true to his title, he made his second save of the shootout to secure the victory.

Kentucky’s next matchup will be on Wednesday, Nov. 12, where it will look to advance in the Sun Belt Tournament against the UCF Knights. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Bell Soccer Complex, with the winner advancing to the conference championship.