Round Two: @Kentucky: Sunday, November 18th at 1pm Pacific

Thought I would get this thread going.

Over in the UCLA thread, there was some discussion about Kentucky and the C-USA. I'm here to say that both are no slouch.

Yes, only two SEC schools have men's soccer: Kentucky and South Carolina. I am not 100% sure why most SEC schools have women's soccer and not men's soccer, but I imagine it might have something to do with having a football team and scholarships and Title IX balances (my speculation and my speculation only). The C-USA men's soccer competition is a mix of C-USA schools and random others with no home for men's soccer: Kentucky, Old Dominion, UNC-Charlotte (historically very good), FIU, Marshall, UAB, New Mexico (RIP after this season), South Carolina (not half bad historically ourselves but terrible lately), and FAU. This year, Kentucky was the C-USA regular season champion and the C-USA Tournament Champion. (Side note: I am glad the WCC does not have a soccer tournament).

UK posted a 17-1-1 record this season and has wins over a strong Louisville program (3-0) and Indiana (3-0). Their only loss came at FIU (2-3) and their draw came against Xavier (0-0) in Cincinnati. They have otherwise dominated at home. Despite the score being 2-1 in their win over South Carolina, they manhandled us.

Should be a tough matchup come Sunday.

SoreKnees wrote:On the Lipscomb issue, they seem to be in our bracket, so if we win at Kentucky and they win at Central Florida, we would play them in the next round. Given their low seed, it seems at least possible that we could get another game at Merlo. What a happy surprise that would be!

It's  possible!

There were 16 games played in Round One....seven of them were won by the underdogs, and in four other games the underdog took the eventual winning favorite to OT!

Game Day!  Sunny and 56 degrees with light winds in both Lexington and in Portland where there will be a watch party at 1pm in the Pilot House.  Free food, too!

You've gotta love this send off from the team's hotel:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1064234498991300608

Pilots down 1-0 at the half.

Pretty intense first half.  UK in possession for the most part, and UP with the occasional counter.

Pretty obvious the staff did some good scouting of the Wildcats,

Kienan has been brilliant, but a bad turnover by his defense made for an easy UK goal.

No Rey yet...maybe in the 2nd half?

Been awhile since I've heard Vuvuzelas at a Pilots game...

I had to mute the broadcast because the commentators were unbearable to listen to.

I agree with DD on the first half. Kentucky is a good team, but that lone goal was not representative of the otherwise great defense we played that half.

UK definitely dominated possession. It almost seems like they have an extra player and they won almost all jump balls.

The referee seems content to let things get physical. Only the one (deserved) card so far against us.

I put our chances of advancing as low to begin with, but I didn’t think the game would go so far south for us. I’m really not impressed with our composure this half so far.

Weekes is still playing a heck of a game in goal.

I’m inclined to say that Tiozzo should have been carded for that elbow and the UK player carded for embellishment. Then there was the Boyd incident later. I don’t like to criticize officials but the match got out of hand because he didn’t card early on. I hope UK fans don’t hold this against us.

On the bright side, this is the farthest the men’s team has advanced for some time. NCV has the team trending upward despite the lumps.

Things calmed down at the end of the match. Still a season to be very proud of! Hopefully we can just keep improving and go farther in the years to come.

I’m curious what the mood in the Pilot House was like?

Couldn't stick around for the second half, but I understand the final was 4-0.

The program is definitely trending upward with ncv at the helm.

Definitely not a very well officiated game. Not that it really favored one team over the other, but he let it get out of control.

Great season! Kentucky is a lot to deal with, will probably make College Cup.