Kentucky Men's Soccer Falls to #2 Seed Notre Dame in NCAAT 2nd Round
Kentucky Men’s Soccer, we’ll see you next season.
The Wildcats (8-8-4) took on the No. 2 overall-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-2-4) on Sunday night in South Bend, Indiana. The squads were matched up in the second round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament after Kentucky won its opening-round game against Xavier earlier this week. Notre Dame played its first game of the tournament after receiving a first-round bye.
Both teams got off to a slow start, but a second-half run led to the Fighting Irish securing a 2-0 dub, which ended the ‘Cats postseason journey and the 2023 season.
First half woes
The first 45 was mostly sluggish for both teams, but Kentucky picked up the pace quicker than Notre Dame. Freshman Alfred Baafi shot the first on-goal attempt by the 7′, and although the attempt was punched out by Notre Dame’s goalkeeper, the aggressiveness continued for UK.
Baafi kept his determination to score in front of him as he tallied two more shots on goal in the 13′. The shots were not falling for the ‘Cats though as the Fighting Irish’s senior keeper Bryan Dowd stood firm in goal all night long.
By the end of the first half, neither team had any luck finding the back of the net. The stars of the show in the first 45 were each squad’s keepers as Kentucky’s Casper Mols finished with one save and Dowd finished with three to end the half and keep it at a nil-nil game.
Kentucky’s season comes to an end
Coming out of the half the aggressiveness seemed to dwindle away from Kentucky as they looked more passive. Then, just two minutes into the second half, UK’s worst scenario occurred as the Fighting Irish sent a ball soaring into the back of the net to take the 1-0 lead.
Following the early-half score the Wildcats were able to slow down Notre Dame and get some attempts off, but couldn’t even up the score. In the 53′ Kentucky, fifth-year Mason Visconti found a solid look at a score but his accuracy was off.. The same situation happened in the 75′ with fellow UK player Martin Soereide as he also had no luck finding the equalizer.
With time counting down, Notre Dame was maintaining possession. Every time Kentucky tried to get down the field, the ball was snatched away. This pattern continued until the 78′ when the Fighting Irish pushed on a breakaway which pulled Mols out of the goal. It created an opening for Notre Dame to tack on another goal and make it a 2-0 match with about 12 minutes left.
Wildcat freshman Isaiah Chisolm was able to attempt one last shot in the 85′ but it was too late for the ‘Cats to make a comeback. In the end, a slow first half and poor offensive performance could not get Kentucky over the hump as they were defeated 2-0 by Notre Dame. Despite a strong push to close out the schedule, UK’s season comes to an end early.
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