It was another tough break for the Falcon mens soccer team as they fell to the Kentucky Wildcats on the road 1-0 in overtime. This marked the fourth loss on the road, where they have struggled this season. It was also their first overtime loss of the season, as their previous record in overtime was 1-0-2.
In the first 25 minutes of the match, Kentucky would put up five shot attempts and three of those were saved by freshman goalkeeper Anthony Mwembia, who had a busy night. Five minutes later, Kentucky’s Napo Matsoso was found in the center of the box following a low cross pass set up by his teammate. Matsoso would fire one out but would be deflected by a Falcon defender, and that made it easier for Mwembia to make the save.
However, Kentucky would not let up on shot attempts as Kentucky’s Stefan Stojkovic would shoot from 18 yards out but it sailed high. Then getting the rebound was Matsoso, whose shot also would go wide right. Kentucky would attempt two more shots a few minutes later but either sailed high or wide.
On the other hand, the Falcons were able to get going on offense in the final 10 minutes of the half as junior forward Brad Macomber found senior midfielder Joe Sullivan with a header on a cross, but Kentucky’s goalkeeper Stuart Ford was able to deflect it out of play. Kentucky would try to strike quick as Paul Sime found an opening toward the left side, but the shot attempt would be blocked.
Before the half ended, freshman forward Chris Brennan tried to find Sullivan toward the penalty area, but it was quickly deflected out of play as time expired. This was the first time all season that the team would not record a shot attempt, and they only recorded one corner kick earlier in the game. Meanwhile, Kentucky seemed to be in control from the starting whistle as they outshot the Falcons 11-0.
As much as Kentucky outshot the team, it was a scoreless first half thanks to a solid defensive game by Mwembia.
In the first 10 minutes of the second half, the team looked to get shot attempts early as Brennan would retrieve a long ball from senior defender Jacob Roth and dish it out to redshirt sophomore midfielder Bismark Agyeman. Agyeman eluded a Kentucky defender and flipped it back to Brennan, who set his feet and fired a shot that would sail wide off the near post of a defender.
Following that was Sullivan lining up for a corner kick as he kicked it out toward the outside of the box to junior defender Alexis Souahy. Souahy would get off a shot attempt that sailed high over the goal post and frustration set in for the Falcons.
Kentucky would respond quickly with an offensive run of their own as Napo Matsoso would line up for a corner kick around the 58-minute mark. The kick went right toward teammate Jordan Wilson, who attempted a header shot that would sail high. A couple minutes later, Kentucky’s Noah Hutchins would get a cross pass set up towards the right side, but the attempt was blocked.
With 15 minutes left in the second half, the Falcons finally got a nice offensive possession by a plethora of passes spreading from one teammate to another. Sophomore forward Tate Robertson tried to get a low cross pass to another teammate and would get knocked away by a Kentucky defender from the far post.
Sophomore Dominic Grida then got the quick steal from a Kentucky player. Grida fired a shot from a long distance, but it sailed wide right out of play.
As regulation time wound down, Kentucky would get off two final desperation shots as Noah Hutchins fired a turnaround shot that went straight at Mwembia. With 30 seconds left to go, Kentucky’s Sam Stockton would fire a quick shot that would be blocked as time expired and the game would go into overtime.
With two minutes underway in overtime, Joe Sullivan played a pass ahead toward fellow senior Pat Flynn. Flynn got off his first shot of the night, but it was blocked. A couple minutes later, Kentucky nearly ended the game after D.J. Williams’s shot hit the crossbar. It wasn’t too long after when it was officially over as Kentucky’s Charlie Reymann would line up for a corner kick. The kick sailed right toward teammate Kaelon Fox with a header shot that would get past Mwembia and Kentucky would seal the victory.
“It’s very tough to win on the road,” said Falcons head coach Eric Nichols. “I give full-credit to Kentucky, they’re a nationally ranked team for a reason and unfortunately we couldn’t get the victory. They outshot us and had the possession for most of the game, but we also had many opportunities and it’s frustrating to see those go wasted.”
The team will look to rebound as they go back to Mid-American Conference play on the road against the Northern Illinois Huskies on Saturday night.
