Memphis vs. Kentucky Birmingham, Ala. Wednesday 5:00 p.m. (CT)   Memphis Match Notes  UK Notes  C-USA Weekly Notes

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-Memphis (8-6-3, 4-2-2 C-USA) faces Kentucky (9-8-1, 4-3-1 C-USA) in the opening round of the Conference USA Men's Soccer Championship, hosted by UAB, at 5 p.m. (CT) on Wednesday. The Tigers finished as the No. 4 seed in the tournament with a win in their regular season finale against No. 1 seed SMU. Kentucky landed at the No. 5 seed following a season ending loss to South Carolina.

In their regular season meeting, the Tigers and Wildcats battled to a 2-2 draw in Lexington. Mark Sherrod and Benjamin Ciosanski notched Memphis' two goals in the match, with Tyler Riggs and Charles Pettys scoring for Kentucky. This will be the 12th-meeting between the two programs, with the all-time series knotted at 4-4-3.

Scouting the Wildcats
• Kentucky enters the C-USA Championship with a league record of 4-3-1 with wins over UAB, Marshall, FIU and Tulsa. The Wildcats' three losses came at the hands of SMU, UCF and South Carolina.
• Johan Cedergren is in his first season as head coach for Kentucky. Prior to Kentucky, Cedegren spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Darmouth.
• Tyler Riggs and Matt Lodge lead the Wildcats in goals (7). Riggs also leads the team in points (18).
• Jacob Kemper leads the team in assists (5).
• Goalkeeper Jack Van Arsdale has allowed 18 goals and hauled in 45 saves. Through 16 games, Van Arsdale carries a goals-against-average of 1.14 and a record of 6-6-1.

Quick Kicks
• Last time out Memphis defeated No. 14 SMU 2-1. Mark Sherrod netted two goals in the win.
• Mark Sherrod leads the team in goals (12) and points (28), tied for second in C-USA in both categories.
• Liam Collins leads the team in assists (7), tied for third in C-USA.
• Goalkeeper Cody Uzcategui has allowed three goals and snagged 12 saves in three starts for Memphis. Uzcategui carries a goals-against-average of .87, and a record of 3-0-0.

Tigers at the C-USA Tournament
This is the 11th-time since the creation of Conference USA, and the second-straight season that Memphis has qualified for the C-USA Men's Soccer Championship. The Tigers carry an all-time record in the tournament of 9-9.

Under head coach Richie Grant, the Tigers are 4-6 in C-USA tournament play. The Tigers won the regular season and tournament championships in 2004 with Grant at the helm.

Conference Tournament History
The Tigers have made 22 conference tournament appearances in three different conferences (Metro, Great Midwest, Conference USA). In its history, Memphis has three conference tournament titles including the 1986 Metro Conference Tournament, the 1993 Great Midwest Tournament, and the 2004 C-USA Tournament.

Watching the Record Book
Mark Sherrod has 35 career goals which is just two shy of Gareth O'Sullivan (1986-1988) who ranks fourth all-time in program history with 37. This season, Sherrod has notched 12, seven goals short of his single-season program record of 19 set in 2011.

Liam Collins notched his seventh assist of the season against UCF. The Ireland native is second all-time in the program's history with 24 career assists.

In the Tigers' season opening loss to Wisconsin, Collins recorded two assists. This was the fifth time in the sophomore's career to record a multiple-assist game and his first since playing Nebraska-Omaha (3) in 2011. Last season the Tigers-midfielder led C-USA and was fourth in the nation in assists (11) and assists per game (0.61).

Stay Connected
Make sure you follow Memphis Men's Soccer on Facebook (facebook.com/MemphisSoccer) and on Twitter (@UMTigerSoccer) for updates during the games and throughout the season.