Kentucky Men's Soccer Shuts Out Xavier, Advances in NCAA Tournament
Kentucky Men’s Soccer (8-7-4) faced off against Xavier University (9-4-6) in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament on Thursday night. The Wildcats and Musketeers played at Corcoran Field in the Cincinnati Regional, which is right down the road for Xavier and only a short trip to the north for the ‘Cats.
Luckily for Kentucky, it was a drive well worth the result. The Wildcats came out on top 2-0 to stay alive in the postseason.
Coming into the match, Kentucky and Xavier battled against some of the same opponents. Both squads played against the now No. 1 seeded Marshall Thundering Herd in the regular season, as well as Ohio State. The Musketeers competed against Marshall on September 1 and came away with a 3-0 loss, while in regular season play, UK came away with a 2-0 victory over the Herd on Oct. 22 before getting shut in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinals a couple of weeks later.
On the other hand, Xavier played against Ohio State on Oct. 3 which ended in a 0-0 draw while the Wildcats were shut out by the Buckeyes on September 19 with a 3-0 defeat. Although the result from both teams’ play against the same teams was varied, the competitiveness made it intriguing coming into the postseason match on Thursday.
‘Cats start out strong
Kentucky was back with freshman defender Marqes Muir after he had been out following a yellow card violation in the semifinal of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Muir’s return marked a big key piece being back on defense. He was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week in the last week of regular season play before being disqualified.
At the start of the match, both teams came out with energy — it was win or go home. Although the Musketeers got the first shot on goal in the 14′, Kentucky sophomore star keeper, Casper Mols, tallied his first save of the night and kept the game at an even nil-nil.
Following Mol’s save, UK gained momentum. Senior forward Ben Damge was connecting on all cylinders offensively and gave Kentucky an early 1-0 lead in the 26′. As Damge sprinted forward, newcomer Josh Gordon found him for the laser goal.
Not long after his first goal, Damge was able to get another shot off but it was just off and nailed the crossbar as the score remained 1-nil. Freshman Alfred Baafi got in on the action in the 28′ as he was also able to nail a kick toward the net, however, it was saved by the Xavier keeper.
By the end of the first half the ‘Cats were able to tally four shots on goal while the Musketeers only rocketed two off. Damge’s early half score carried Kentucky into the locker room with a 1-0 lead.
Have a day, Damge!
Xavier came out more determined in the second half and looked to get a score early. In just the 48′ two shots on goal were fired off by the Musketeers, but Mols was able to snag to one of them and maintain the ‘Cats lead while the other shot was a bit too high to find the back of the net. Not long after the attempts from Xavier were rattled off, Kentucky found their rhythm once again.
In the 51′ it was the Wildcat’s turn to get a few shots off. Fifth-year Brennan Creek placed a shot on goal in the first few seconds of the 51′ but it was blocked by Jonny Mennell, the Xavier goalie. Mennell remained steady in the later seconds of the 51′ when freshman Wildcat Joel Gonzalez rocketed another attempt at the goal. But no luck — the score remained 1-0 in favor of Kentucky.
Each team had a few more chances up until the 68′ when Damge found the sweet spot once again off of an assist from Muir in the box to put the ‘Cats up 2-0. The two goals scored by Damge tallied his third and fourth on the season.
In the final minutes of the match, the Musketeers were able to get one last shot attempt off in the 89′ that was blocked. A solid defensive presence and stellar offensive play from senior and Ohio native Ben Damge carried the Wildcats into the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Mols finished his seventh clean sheet of the season with two saves.
Up next for Kentucky is No. 2 overall seed Notre Dame on Sunday, Nov. 19 as UK will travel to South Bend to take on the Fighting Irish at 5:00 p.m. EST. This will mark the fifth consecutive second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the Wildcats.
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