Sept. 7, 2008
SAN LUIS OBISPO
, Calif. —
Michael Strong netted his fourth goal in as many games and narrowly missed his fifth, but goals by Daniel Cumming, Jacob Hustedt and David Zamora lifted No. 24 Cal Poly to a 3-1 win over the Kentucky men’s soccer team ,in front of 1,313 on Sunday afternoon at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
Kentucky
(2-2) drops its second consecutive game after opening up with two wins in the UK Invitational last weekend. The Wildcats dropped a highly-contested game with No. 7 UC Santa Barbara on Friday, battling the Gauchos in a 1-0 loss in a nationally televised contest.
The Mustangs (2-1) netted a pair of first-half goals against UK, the first by Cumming in the 12th minute and the second by Hustedt in the 40th minute.
Cumming, a junior, scored his second goal of the season in the 12th minute, getting the Mustangs on the board first. Junior Jose Garcia found open space on the left side of the field before floating a cross to senior midfielder Julian Alvarez’s head on the far side of the goal. Alvarez’s header arched across the goal face and Cumming won position in front of his mark to one-touch a powerful blast into the back of the net.
Cal Poly’s second score came on the strength of one-versus-one play by Hustedt on the left side. The freshman midfielder beat the Wildcat defense, dribbled into the box and scorched a low shot past the Wildcats goalkeeper Dan Williams.
The Wildcats got on the board in the 77th minute, making the game 2-1 and giving UK a chance to mount a comeback. Sophomore Stephen Beiro crossed a ball from the right near the end line in Cal Poly’s box that found the foot of a streaking Strong, the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week.
In the 80th minute, Strong found himself free of the defense with only Cal Poly goalkeeper Eric Branagan-Franco in his path. Strong took a touch and tried a shot, but Branagan-Franco saved the shot with a sliding challenge, knocking the ball into the grandstands to thwart Kentucky’s attempt for an equalizer.
Cal Poly tacked on a third goal in the 89th minute, sophomore David Zamora running on to strike a deflected shot taken by Alvarez as it drifted toward the far post.
The Wildcats had 14 fouls in the match to Cal Poly’s six. The Mustangs were issued a pair of yellow cards, one to Mario Fernandez in the 63rd minute and another to Daniel Gray in the 77th minute.
Strong led UK with five shots, including three on goal. UK fired nine total shots to Cal Poly’s 10, while playing a total of 21 players in the game.
Kentucky
returns to action on Saturday, traveling to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats at 7 p.m. ET.
