Kentucky men’s soccer suffered its first regular season loss since 2021, on Friday, falling 1-0 on the road against Wisconsin.
The Wildcats entered the match in Madison as the No. 2 men’s soccer program in the country, coming off a triumphant 2022 season that saw the team enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.
Prior to the defeat Kentucky had defeated its opponents, Florida Gulf Coast (FGCU) and East Tennessee State (ETSU), by a combined 4-0.
The lone goal of the match came just over one minute into the contest when Wisconsin’s Mitchell Dryden got one past UK’s Casper Mols.
While the match itself was unremarkable, it symbolized the first regular season loss in over a year for head coach Johan Cedergren’s Cats and made the team’s rebuild even more evident after a miraculous season one year ago.
The last time the Cats had suffered a defeat outside of postseason play was on October 30, 2021, against the Charlotte 49ers.
Kentucky, then undefeated, traveled to Charlotte in the penultimate match of the season before falling short 2-1 in overtime. A stunning defeat at the time, it soon became the only regular season loss that year after UK rebounded by smashing Florida Atlantic (FAU) 3-0 in the regular season finale.
Prior to the loss against Charlotte, Kentucky hadn’t lost in regular season play since March 27, 2021, in the second half of the 2020 season, which was divided in half due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ballard McBride (29) kicks the ball during the Kentucky vs. ETSU mens soccer match on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, at the Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky won 1-0. Photo by Travis Fannon | Staff (Travis Fannon)
Post Charlotte, Kentucky lost to Clemson in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 after sweeping the Conference USA Tournament in the to-date final year of the conference’s existence in men’s soccer.
In the 2022 season, Kentucky recorded its miraculous campaign that saw it finish the regular season undefeated with four consecutive shutouts to end the year. In fact, in its last four matches, against Coastal Carolina, eventual national championship runner-ups Indiana, Old Dominion and South Carolina, UK outscored its opponents by a combined 8-0.
The team then breezed through the Sun Belt Tournament, outscoring its opponents, South Carolina, West Virginia and James Madison, by a combined 7-1 to enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.
What followed was Soereide’s brutal injury and a 2-1 heartbreaker in the Sweet Sixteen before the roster underwent the most dramatic turnover it had seen in years.
With numerous talents either being drafted in the MLS SuperDraft or signing professional contracts elsewhere, along with others running out of eligibility, Cedergren always knew the 2023 season would be the beginning of a new era for the squad.
Regardless, while the Wisconsin loss ended UK’s regular season winning streak, the Cats still have the opportunity to prevent the first two-loss regular season since that 2020.
The road to a one-loss season will be far from easy however, as the Cats are scheduled to face off against No. 13 Louisville on Tuesday, September 5, on the road.
Kickoff against the Cardinals is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET from Louisville, Kentucky.
