CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – Eythor Bjorgolfsson's goal in the fourth minute of overtime gave No. 4 seed and No. 15-ranked Kentucky a 2-1 victory over No. 6 seed Florida Atlantic in the final of the 2021 Conference USA Men's Soccer Championship at Transamerica Field.
 
The victory by the Wildcats (14-1-4) earns Kentucky the C-USA automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. It is the first C-USA tournament title for Kentucky since 2018 and the second since the Wildcats joined the league in 2005.

2021 C-USA Men's Soccer Championship Tournament Central
 
In overtime, Kentucky pressured the Florida Atlantic defense. A cross delivered from the right just outside of the 18-yard box by Clay Holstad went across the six-yard box and was slightly deflected by a FAU defender to UK's Enzo Mauriz, Mauriz one-timed a pass to Bjorgolfsson in front of the Owls goal as two Florida Atlantic defenders collided, and Bjorgolfsson calmly slotted his shot past the diving FAU goalkeeper for the winning goal at 93:09.
 
The Wildcats forced overtime after Marcel Meinzer scored on a penalty kick in the 60th minute. Meinzer fired a hard shot into the top middle of the net to tie the game 1-1 after Florida Atlantic was called for a foul in the 18-yard box.
 
The Owls (9-7-3) opened the scoring in the 16th minute of the first half. FAU goalkeeper Neil Strauber took a free kick from his own penalty area that Jose Alastuey controlled in the middle of the field about 30 yards from goal. Alastuey sent a pass toward the right top corner of the 18-yard box to Pontus Steffensen. Steffensen worked around a UK defender in the box and sent a low pass to the far corner of the goal, where Ivan Mykhailenko one-timed a shot into the Wildcats' net for a 1-0 lead.
 
Bjorgolfsson who scored a pair of goals in the three Kentucky games, including the championship winner, was selected as the tournament's Offensive MVP, while Luis Grassow, who keyed the UK defense that allowed only two goals in three games, was the Defensive MVP.
 
Bjorgolfsson and Grassow were joined on the C-USA All-Tournament Team by Kentucky teammates Meinzer and Jan Hoffelner. Other members of the All-Tournament team were Florida Atlantic's Tom Abrahamsson, Alonso Coello Camarero and Mykailenko, FIU's Matteo Gasperoni and Kareem Riley along with Gabriel Alves and Alex Adjetey of Marshall.
 
Kentucky outshot FAU 13-5 overall, and the Wildcats held a 7-2 advantage in shots on goal. Strauber stopped four shots for the Owls and there was one team save credited, while Hoffelner had one save for UK.
 
To advance to the C-USA championship final, Kentucky beat No. 5 seed Coastal Carolina 3-1 in the quarterfinals and beat No. 1 seed and C-USA regular-season champion FIU 3-0 in the semifinals.
 
Florida Atlantic advanced to the semifinals in penalty kicks over host and No. 3 seed Charlotte after a 0-0 double-overtime tie, and defeated No. 2 seed and defending NCAA national champion Marshall 3-1 in the semifinals to reach the championship game.
 
The Wildcats – and C-USA teams on the hunt for an at-large bid – now await the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Selection Show on Monday, November 15 at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT on NCAA.com, where they will learn who they will face as part of the 48-team field. The first round of the NCAA tournament will be played Thursday, November 18 at campus sites, while the top 16 seeds receive a bye to the second round on Sunday, November 21.
 
2021 C-USA Men's Soccer Championship All-Tournament Team
Eythor Bjorgolfsson, Kentucky – Offensive MVP
Luis Grassow, Kentucky – Defensive MVP
Jan Hoffelner, Kentucky
Marcel Meinzer, Kentucky
Tom Abrahamsson, Florida Atlantic
Alonso Coello Camarero, Florida Atlantic
Ivan Mykhailenko, Florida Atlantic
Matteo Gasperoni, FIU
Kareem Riley, FIU
Alex Adjetey, Marshall
Gabriel Alves, Marshall
 
2021 C-USA Men's Soccer Championship
November 10-14, 2021 – Charlotte, North Carolina (hosted by Charlotte)
 
Wednesday, November 10 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: (4) Kentucky 3, (5) Coastal Carolina 1
Game 2: (6) Florida Atlantic 0, (3) Charlotte 0 (2OT; FAU 5-3 PKs)
 
Friday, November 12 - Semifinals
Game 3: (4) Kentucky 3, (1) FIU 0
Game 4: (6) Florida Atlantic 3, (2) Marshall 1
 
Sunday, November 14 - Championship Game
Game 5: (4) Kentucky 2, (6) Florida Atlantic 1 (OT)