Turnbull Scores First Goal of Season
LOUISVILLE — After Kentucky fell behind in the second half, Masumi Turnbull found the back of the net in the 72nd minute to give UK a 1-1 tie against Louisville on Wednesday night at Cardinal Park.
Just two minutes prior to the equalizer, the Wildcats had a goal called back on a controversial foul call in the box. Off a free kick, the ball was headed into a crowd right in front of the goal where UK striker Mark Halma bounced in a header for what appeared to be the tying goal. However, a foul was called on the play when Louisville’s keeper, David Simolike, went down.
The play was remarkably similar to one in the first half when a Louisville attacker collided with Kentucky keeper Dan Williams. Williams ended up on the ground, play was halted for a number of minutes, and the Cardinals were then awarded a corner.
Halma eventually got even by setting up the tying goal. Off a long throw in, the freshman snapped a header that Simolike did well to save. However, the rebound went straight to Riley O’Neill, who passed across the goal box to Turnbull for the goal.
O’Neill, the reigning Conference USA Player of the Week, had chances to end the game early in overtime on back-to-back possessions. The first time, he mistimed his jump on a cross and just missed putting a header on what would have been an easy goal.
Moments later, Michael Strong won the ball down the right side, dribbled around a defender near the end line and fed the ball to O’Neill 10 yards out. He took it with his left foot and fired only to have Simolike make a fantastic save to preserve the tie.
The tie keeps Kentucky unbeaten at 2-0-1 on the year while Louisville moved to 1-1-1. The Wildcats have not lost to their rival in five straight meetings, posting a 4-0-1 mark in that span.
Early on, UK controlled the game and was unlucky not to have a pair of goals in the first 15 minutes. In the 11th minute, Jase Griffiths ripped a shot from outside the box that Simolike made a finger-tip save on while diving to his right.
Four minutes later, O’Neill fired towards the far post, and again Simolike came up big to keep the Wildcats off the board. Despite being double teamed most of the contest, O’Neill was dangerous all game, firing off a match-high seven shots with five going on goal. Kentucky owned the overall shot advantage 21-15.
Louisville had its first chance to score in the 19th minute off a turnover by UK defender Barry Rice. Frank Jonke, the Cards striker who played exceptionally, took the turnover and fed Gerard Voutier, who set up John Jonke for a clean shot from 12 yards out. However, his attempt was stonewalled by Williams, in one of a number of big saves he made on the day.
Voutier eventually set up Louisville’s goal in the 62nd minute. His pass out of the box to David Guzman gave him a clean crack at a 25 yarder that sailed past Williams just inside the left post for a 1-0 U of L lead.
The goal was the only flaw of the game for Williams, who was brilliant in making 10 saves. His counterpart, Simolike, came up with 11 stops.
Unlike last year’s contest that saw 58 fouls called, this one was much less physical as the team’s combined for only 36 fouls.
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday at 7 p.m. when it hosts Belmont at the UK Soccer Complex.
