UK men’s soccer wins Sun Belt Conference Tournament

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - The No. 2 Kentucky men’s soccer team beat James Madison 2-0 to capture the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship Sunday afternoon.

Following wins over South Carolina in the quarterfinal round and West Virginia University in semifinals, the Cats earned another Sun Belt trophy on the season, after winning the regular season title last month.

The Wildcats (14-0-5) are now the only unbeaten NCAA Division I men’s team in the country.

The match started off with a goal by team captain Luis Grassow in the first five minutes of regulation. A corner kick by fellow captain Robert Screen was headed out of the goal, but sent to Enzo Mauriz’s left foot. After JMU blocked his shot attempt, Grassow rebounded with a cleared shot straight to the upper left corner of the goal.

After several scoring chances for JMU, the Cats found space in the 84th minute when Screen passed the ball to fifth-year senior Danny Evans. Evans crossed the ball with his right to Mauriz who was waiting at the top of the box. The connected right-footed shot sent the ball flying into the net to seal the championship win for the Wildcats.

According to UK Athletics, JMU ended up outshooting UK 14-13, while the Wildcats had a 9-5 edge in shots on goal. JMU had eight fouls to UK’s seven and 10 corner kicks to UK’s four. Kentucky’s Casper Mols had an incredible tournament for the Wildcats in the goal with just one goal allowed and two clean sheets.

Kentucky’s Clay Holstad – who doubled as the event’s most valuable player, Mols, Bjorgolfsson and Grassow were named to the 2022 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer All-Tournament Team.

UK’s championship win earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The selection show will take place on Monday at 1 p.m. EST.

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