ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Riley O’Neill scored two goals and assisted on another to lead Kentucky to a dominating 5-0 victory over UNC-Asheville on Saturday afternoon at Greenwood Field.
With the win, UK improved to 5-0-1 on the season and is off to its best start in school history. The Wildcats have won three straight, outscoring their foes 16-0 in that stretch. Along with Wednesday’s 8-0 win over Georgetown, Kentucky has scored at least five goals in back-to-back games for the first time in school history.
The Wildcats dominated from beginning to end, doubling up the Bulldogs on shots, 16-8, and earning six corners to two. A majority of UNCA’s shots came in the second half after Kentucky had put the game away.
Goalkeepers Dan Williams, who missed Wednesday’s contest with an injury, and Matt Troop combined to earn the shutout. It is UK’s third straight clean sheet – the first time it has done that since 2003 – and its fourth in six games this season.
O’Neill moved into fourth place in school history in career goals with 20 and has now scored in three straight games. For the year, O’Neill already has nine goals and a pair of assists.
Kentucky improved to 8-0 all time against UNC-Asheville, having outscored the Bulldogs 30-5 in the series.
Jase Griffiths got UK on the board in the 19th minute with a beautiful goal, his second of the year. Masumi Turnbull dribbled to the endline on the left side of the box and played a ball on the ground through to Griffiths, who buried a shot low and left for a 1-0 Wildcat lead.
O’Neill earned his assist on Michael Strong’s fourth goal of the week in the 35th minute. Matt Baum served a cross into the box, where O’Neill knocked it down and Strong banked in his shot off the far post. The Wildcats took the 2-0 lead into the half.
In the final 45, O’Neill put the game away with a pair of goals just two minutes apart. He struck first in the 54th minute after Nathan Li made a brilliant 50-yard run down the right side. He dribbled around a defender at the end line and fed O’Neill for an easy goal.
Two minutes later, O’Neill snapped a header off for his second goal. Turnbull tallied his second assist of the contest after serving the ball in on a tremendous free kick from 45 yards out.
Mark Halma finished off the scoring in the 68th minute in similar fashion to O’Neill’s second goal. This time, Griffiths sent in the free kick and Halma rose above the defense to bury a header.
With the game well out of reach, both teams substituted liberally. In all, 22 UK players who made the trip played, including the first career game action for Keith Realing and Adam Midkiff.
Kentucky returns to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. when it hosts Michigan at the UK soccer complex. It is the third straight year the two teams have met with the Wolverines taking winning each 1-0 in overtime.
