Kentucky Men's Soccer Earns Much-Needed Win Over Lipscomb

Kentucky Men’s Soccer looked like its old self on Friday.

The No. 19 Wildcats (3-2-0) went up against the Lipscomb Bison (1-2-1) on Friday night. The two squads faced off at UK’s home field, The Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex, in Lexington, KY. Kentucky came into the match off of back-to-back losses against Wisconsin and rival Louisville earlier in the week, but a second-half comeback on Friday revitalized the ‘Cats as they came away with a much-needed win.

‘Cats down early again

Coming out of the gate Kentucky looked sluggish and Lipscomb got off to a hot start. In just the 6th minute the Bison were able to find the back of the net and take an early 1-0 lead. The previous two matches that the ‘Cats lost all began with their opponents getting on the board before them within the first 10 minutes.

It was the same old story for UK in the first half as they had no shots on goal, although they did come up with four corner attempts through the first 45 minutes of action. On the other hand, the Bison found another goal in the 23′ to go up 2-nil over the Wildcats.

🚨GOAL🚨

The Bisons find the back of the net again here in the 23’ to get up early, 2-0.

Things could get out of hand really fast if @UKMensSoccer gives up another goal before half.

‘Cats: 0
Lipscomb: 2@ZGeogheganKSR #NCAASoccer
— katelyn perkins (@KPerkinsKSR) September 9, 2023

There were not many good things to take away from the first half for Kentucky aside from sophomore goalie Casper Mols’ saves that kept the ‘Cats from going down even more before going into the locker room.

The start of the second half was a completely different story for both squads.

A totally different match

Kentucky’s energy felt higher and they seemed to have much more urgency going for the ball on both ends of the pitch. Things were finally starting to look up for the ‘Cats in the 54’ when transfer Logan Dorsey drove in and got the assist from freshman forward Isaiah Chisolm to put UK on the board and cut their deficit to 2-1.

Following their first goal, the tempo began to show from Kentucky’s play as they were going harder for shots. In the 58′ a foul on Lipscomb that occurred in Kentucky’s box gave transfer Aboubacar Camara a penalty which he rocketed in the back of the net to make it all tied up at 2-2.

Each team was going back and forth as the momentum shifted each time down the field. It was a fairly quiet battle until the 76′ when sophomore and Lexington native Max Miller sent a ball into the box that found Chisolm for a header to give Kentucky the late-match 3-2 lead.

Although both teams had multiple corner attempts, Lipscomb could not find another score and UK picked up the 3-2 comeback victory over the Bison.

🚨FINAL🚨

After a very rocky first half, @UKMensSoccer was able to come out strong in the second half and take back a 3-2 victory over Lipscomb.

This was a must-win match up for Kentucky after losing their previous two matches.

‘Cats: 3
Bison: 2@ZGeogheganKSR
— katelyn perkins (@KPerkinsKSR) September 9, 2023