Kentucky Wildcats men's soccer
Founded	1991; 34 years ago (1991)
University	University of Kentucky
Athletic director	Mitch Barnhart
Head coach	Johan Cedergren (12th season)
Conference	Sun Belt
Location	Lexington,Kentucky
Stadium	Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex (Capacity: 3,368)
Nickname	Wildcats
Colors	Blue and white[1]
Home Away
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
2018
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
2000, 2018, 2020, 2022
NCAA Tournament appearances
1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025
Conference Tournament championships
MAC: 1999, 2000, 2001 C-USA: 2018, 2021 SBC: 2022
Conference Regular Season championships
MAC: 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 C-USA: 2015, 2018 SBC: 2022

TheKentucky Wildcats men's soccer team is an intercollegiatevarsity sports team of theUniversity of Kentucky (UK).

Since theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) does not sponsor men's soccer (minimum four schools needed to sponsor a sport, only two offer it), the team has been associate members of other conferences. From 1995 to 2004, it was a member of theMid-American Conference.^[2] In 2005, UK moved men's soccer toConference USA, creating a rivalry with fellow SEC memberSouth Carolina, which had rejoined the reunified conference that season. Both UK and South Carolina remained in C-USA men's soccer through the 2021 season, after which both programs left for the newly reinstated men's soccer league of theSun Belt Conference.^[3]

In 2018, Kentucky went 17–1–1 with wins against #6Louisville and #2Indiana, both by a score of 3–0 at home. They finished 7–1 overall in conference play with their only lose coming on the road atFIU 2–3. The Wildcats won the C-USA Regular Season and Tournament Titles. They were the #3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, their highest until 2022.^[4]

In 2022, Kentucky finished the regular season at 14–0–5 with wins against #10 Louisville and #21Lipscomb at home, both by scores of 3–2. They also tied against #20Tulsa in Tulsa 1–1 and #7Marshall in Lexington 1–1. All four of these games took place in a two-week span from September 6 to September 20. They finished 5–0–3 and Sun Belt Regular Season and Tournament Champions. They were awarded the #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, the first time in school history.

The school has two major derbies, one in-state and one in their primary conference.

• Governor's Cup: Against in-state rivalLouisville, the traditional all-sports rivalry between Louisville (ACC) and Kentucky (SBC).
• Big 12/SEC Challenge: A four-waySun Belt Conference rivalry among the four associate members whose conferences do not sponsor the sport.West Virginia andCentral Florida, members of theBig 12 Conference in other sports, form the "Big 12" half of the four-way derby.
  • SEC Derby: TheSoutheastern Conference side of the four-way derby, Kentucky's game againstSouth Carolina, while neither are regarded as major SEC rivals in other sports, the two schools are the only SEC members that sponsor varsity men's soccer teams, which forms a conference derby. UK left the Mid-American Conference after the 2004 season when South Carolina rejoined the reunified Conference USA, in which it had last been a member in 1994 (when it was the Metro). The two schools moved men's soccer together to the Sun Belt Conference for 2022. Both schools have referred to the rivalry as theSoutheastern Conference Men's Championship.

• Cyrus Margono
• Ilkka Jäntti
• Andy Gruenebaum
• Riley O'Neill
• Michael D'Agostino
• Barry Rice
• Leon Jones
• Jason Griffiths
• Callum Irving
• Napo Matsoso
• JJ Williams
• Aimé Mabika
• Brett Smith
• Jansen Wilson

• Mid-American Conference tournament
  • Winners (3): 1999, 2000, 2001
  • Runners-up (1): 1996

• Official website

• Kentucky Wildcats men's soccer
• 1991 establishments in Kentucky

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from May 2025