UK men’s soccer kicks off conference play against UAB

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Staff report

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On a three-game losing streak, UK men’s soccer will kick off the Conference USA portion of the schedule with a matchup against No. 14 University of Alabama at Birmingham on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the UK Soccer Complex.

After a 2-1 start to the season that included a 4-0 victory over Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and a 1-0 win over Georgia State University, the Cats have dropped three consecutive games to Xavier University, Dartmouth College and the University of South Florida.

In the three-game span, UK has been outscored by opponents 7-2. In total, the Cats have been outscored 8-7 this season.

Sophomore forward Isak Krogstad leads UK (2-4-0) with three goals, while senior defender Brad Doliner, freshman defender Charlie Reymann, and freshman midfielders Kaelon Fox and Napo Matsoso have each added one goal apiece for the Cats.

Doliner and Matsoso were selected to the Gamecock Classic All-Tournament Team, despite the Cats’ losses to Dartmouth and USF.

Goalkeeping duties for UK have been split evenly this season between senior captain Jack Van Arsdale and sophomore Callum Irving.

Irving has recorded two saves and allowed three goals, while Van Arsdale has recorded four saves and allowed five goals. Both goalkeepers have spent 270 minutes in goal this season.

UAB (5-1-1) ranks No. 14 in the NSCAA Poll and No. 17 in the Soccer America Rankings.

The Blazers started the season 3-0, during which time UAB scored 11 goals and allowed two.

UAB then drew 0-0 with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and lost 1-0 to East Tennessee State University in the UAB “Soccer For A Cure” Classic.

The Blazers went on to beat Mercer University and Belmont University by a combined score of 6-0 before entering the matchup with UK.

Leading all scoring for UAB is sophomore forward Freddy Ruiz, who has five goals on the season. Ruiz is joined at the top of the stat sheet by junior forward Diego Navarette, who has four goals and one assist.

Senior midfielder Patrick Huang adds two goals and two assists for the Blazers, while junior midfielder Alex Clay has one goal and leads the team with four assists.

UAB has outscored opponents this season 18-2.

Blazers senior goalkeeper Raphael Ville has recorded 16 saves and three shutouts this season in just over 628 minutes in goal.

UAB has played five straight games at home before traveling to Lexington for the matchup with the Cats.