Kentucky Men's Soccer Suffers Season Ending Loss to Pittsburgh
#1 seed Kentucky Men’s Soccer (15-1-5) fell to Pittsburgh (11-4-5) in the 2022 Tournament Sweet 16 on Sunday night at the Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex in Lexington, KY.
The Wildcats were the only remaining undefeated team left in the country and the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed before falling to the Panthers.
First half woes
In the sub-40-degree and rainy weather, each squad started out slow.
Both the ‘Cats and Panthers had various corner attempts and close calls early on but came up short.
Pittsburgh played more aggressively than Kentucky in the first half. That mentality was expected from the side looking for an upset.
There were opportunities for both teams to find the back of the net through the first 45 minutes but no goals were made going into the halftime break.
The search for a second-half goal
Out of the locker room, there was a newfound energy from the ‘Cats at the start of the second half.
Momentum felt like it had shifted and with it came more shots on goal for Kentucky.
In the 52′ sophomore midfielder Casper Grening drove down the field and found the first score of the night for the ‘Cats.
Grening’s goal gave Kentucky a 1-0 advantage in the match and put him in the lead for the most goals scored on the team.
Although UK had gained momentum, Pittsburgh was not letting it last long.
After only two minutes following Grening’s goal, Pitt found the back of the net themselves in the 54th minute, tying the match at 1-1.
You could feel the pressure on both sides of the pitch as each team searched for the go-ahead goal.
In the 79th minute Kentucky sophomore midfielder Martin Soereide was injured by a Pitt player which resulted in a red card on the Panthers. Following the injury, Soereide was carted off the field and Pitt found themselves down to 10 men.
The match was quiet with failed corner attempts and shots from both teams until the 87′.
Kentucky was caught off guard and Pittsburgh took advantage to find the back of the net and take a critical 2-1 lead late in the match.
Tough ending for the ‘Cats
Kentucky had only three minutes remaining to seek out a tying goal but they could not find the back of the net before the clock ran out.
This is the third straight season the ‘Cats have been knocked out of the Sweet 16. Kentucky has made it to the Sweet 16 four times over the last five years but has only made it to the Elite 8 once.
Pittsburgh will go on to play Portland in the Elite 8 next weekend.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard