For the second time this season, the University of Evansville men’s soccer team will challenge a top five opponents as Evansville travels to take on No. 3 Kentucky in Lexington, Ky. at 6:00 p.m. (CT) on Wednesday evening.
The Purple Aces head into their final non-conference match of the season after dropping a road match with Loyola on Saturday. In the conference contest, the Ramblers took the lead in the 25th minute on a goal by Aidan Megally. Loyola pushed its lead to two in the 71st minute on Fabian Becerra’s goal before finishing the match with a goal in the 86th minute as Megally scored his second of the evening.
Wednesday night’s match in Lexington marks the 14th all-time meeting between the Aces and Wildcats with Kentucky holding an 8-5 advantage in the series. The two sides last met on October 5, 2015 at Arad McCutchan Stadium as Kentucky picked up a 3-1 win over Evansville. Kentucky has won three-straight matchups in the series with the Aces last defeating the Wildcats in a 2-1 win on the road on October 8, 2013. On the season, the Wildcats hold a 12-1-1 record and a 5-1 record in C-USA play, including wins over Louisville and Indiana. Offensively, Kentucky is led by JJ Williams, whose 12 goals on the season are tied for sixth-best in the nation. Two other Wildcats have scored five or more goals with Kalil ElMedkhar scoring seven times for Kentucky and Jason Reyes finding the back of the net five times. In goal, Enrique Facusse has played and started in all 14 matches for the Wildcats, allowing just seven goals this season with a 0.49 goals-against average, placing Facusse in fifth nationally in goals-against average, while making 40 saves.
