CORVALLIS, Ore. ? The Kentucky men?s soccer team turned in a dominating performance on Saturday afternoon against Oregon State, but was forced to settle for a 2-2 tie in the Stephen Hensor/Joe Zahar Classic.
The result was unlucky for the Wildcats (2-1-1), who held a 23-12 shot advantage and put a whopping 14 shots on goal. Kentucky also owned a 10-7 advantage on corner kicks.
From the opening kickoff, UK was on the attack. Just seven minutes in, sophomore Michael Strong (San Antonio, Texas/Alamo Heights) had a chance saved by goalkeeper Packy Deenihan, who was busy all day long.
The Wildcats produced an offensive flurry starting in the 12th minute that started with a Tim Walters (St. Louis, Mo./Lafayette) shot. A minute later, Riley O?Neill (Campbell River, British Columbia/Tiberline) scored, but had his goal called back on a questionable offside call.
Undeterred, Kentucky finally put one in the back of the net in the 14th minute when Brandon Stewart (Dallas, Texas/Creekview) buried a header off a Michael D?Agostino (Langley, British Columbia/Langley) corner kick.
Moments later at the 16:05 mark, the game was halted due to severe weather in the area. After a 2 hour 25 minute delay for lightning and hail, the game resumed with UK leading 1-0. The Wildcats continued to apply pressure, registering 11 total first half shots.
Kentucky?s best chance to add to its lead came in the 43rd minute when Walters broke through the defense, but had his shot blocked by a sliding Deenihan, who came out to challenge. The rebound went straight to D?Agostino 30 yards out, but he slipped as he fired and his shot on an empty net sailed wide.
Less than a minute later, Alex Asai tied the game as he found himself wide open on a UK defensive breakdown. His one-timer from 10 yards out beat goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley North).
Just three minutes into the second half, Oregon State took a 2-1 lead when Nick Webb?s shot deflected off UK defender Thomas Senecal (Bethesda, Md./The Maret School), changed direction and bounced easily in for a goal.
Kentucky rebounded five minutes later to tie the game. The ball was cleared out of the box, straight to Nathan Marks (Louisville, Ky./Trinity), who served it in. O?Neill leaped above the crowd and headed it home for his third goal of the season.
Each team had a chance to score the winner. Kentucky?s came on back-to-back shots by Travis Young (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft School) and D?Agostino in the 68th minute. However, Deenihan made two big saves.
Oregon State?s chance came in the 72nd minute, when Senecal was called for a handball in the box and the Beavers were awarded a penalty kick. However, Gruenebaum came up huge, diving to his right to stonewall Ryan Johnson.
Kentucky continued to apply pressure in the final 18 minutes and both overtimes, but could not get the winner despite OSU playing a man down for the final 12 minutes as Matt Bowman was sent off. He earned the red card for stomping on D?Agostino?s back after he went down going for a ball.
Kentucky returns to action on Wednesday when they host Georgetown College at 7:30 p.m.
