The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
No. 21 UAB Men's Soccer Hosts Kentucky On Wednesday
10/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 7, 2014
No. 21 UAB (6-3-1) vs. Kentucky (4-3-3)
Wednesday, Oct. 8 | 7 p.m. CT | Birmingham, Ala. - West Campus Field
Live Coverage: Watch Live | Live Stats | Twitter
Match Notes: UAB
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The No. 21 UAB men's soccer team returns home to West Campus Field on Wednesday as the Blazers host Kentucky in a Conference USA matchup as part of UAB's 2014 Homecoming week.
UAB is coming off a 1-0 loss at Akron Saturday night in the final non-conference contest of the season. The Blazers will now turn their focus solely to C-USA action as they play four of the final seven regular season games at West Campus Field.
Live stats and video will be available for Wednesday night's match at the links above. For in-game updates, follow along on the UAB men's soccer Twitter page at the link above.
Blazers No. 21 In Coaches Poll/22nd In NCAA RPI
UAB remained No. 21 in this week's coaches poll and has now been ranked in three-straight in the NSCAA rankings. The Blazers dropped out of the Soccer America poll and moved to 22nd in the latest Bennett rankings.
In the latest RPI release, UAB moved to 22nd after Saturday's loss at Akron. The Blazers also remain at No. 3 in the NSCAA Southeast Regional Poll.
Scouting The Opposition
Kentucky enters the matchup with a 4-3-3 record. The Wildcats have one of the nation's top defenses, allowing just five goals all season for the seventh-best scoring defense in the nation. Callum Irving leads the defense in goal with the 14th-best save percentage in the NCAA as the Wildcats also rank ninth nationally in shutout percentage.
Kentucky is coming off back-to-back double overtime games where the Wildcats tied at Florida Atlantic and against Old Dominion to open C-USA play. Kentucky defeated Notre Dame, the No. 1 team in the nation at the time, back on Sept. 8, and also have wins against Belmont, ETSU and Xavier.
Series Breakdown
Kentucky and UAB have been neck-and-neck in the series since it began back in 2004 and enter the matchup locked at 5-5 all-time. Kentucky enters with a 3-2 advantage in Birmingham, while the Blazers are 3-2 in Lexington. The two teams have played in 10 straight seasons dating back to 2004.
Blazers Rank Top-30 In NCAA In Offense
The UAB offense has scored 18 goals with 18 assists through 10 matches thus far this season. Spreading the ball around has not been an issue, as 10 different Blazers have at least one goal for UAB while 11 different players have at least one assist.
UAB ranks 31st in the NCAA in scoring offense, 28th in total assists, 28th in total goals and 29th in total points. Alex Clay's four helpers put him 37th nationally in that category, while Freddy Ruiz' five goals also rank 37th individually in the NCAA.
For more information on the UAB men's soccer team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MensSoccer). For more on all Blazer sports teams follow the official Twitter account of UAB Athletics (@UABAthletics).
