Sept. 6, 2002
Greenville, S.C. – The 17th-ranked Kentucky men’s soccer team (1-2-0) suffered a 4-1 setback at the hands of the 19th-ranked Creighton Bluejays (2-0-1) Friday at Furman Invitational Tournament in Greenville, S.C. Creighton took an early two goal lead which the Wildcats looked poised to recover from until a pair of goals in the final minutes gave the Bluejays the three-goal win.
The game was a tale of two halves until the final minutes. Creighton would get on the board early in the first stanza when All-American David Wagenfuhr scored in the fifth minute. The Jays added to their lead 13 minutes later on a strike by Damien Westfield that made the score 2-0.
Kentucky junior Nathan Fleetwood would score UK’s only goal on a 20-yard free kick in the 26th minute. The two teams combined for only five shots-on-goal in the first half, but Creighton held a 7-0 edge on corner kicks. The Cats’ 2-1 halftime deficit marks the first time since 2000 that Kentucky has gone into the break behind.
Creighton was satisfied to play behind the ball for much of the second half. The UK attack managed 13 shots in the second period, five of which were on goal. Kentucky also held an 8-0 corner kick advantage in the second period, but could not find the back of the net.
With 16 minutes remaining in the game, senior Scot Shewey received his second yellow card of the match. With the Wildcats down a man and trying to find an equaliser, Creighton’s Julian Nash snuck behind the UK defense and found Mehdi Ballouchy in front of the goal to give CU a 3-1 lead. The Jays would score again 18 second later to ice the victory.
Kentucky outshot Creighton 19-12 on the day, but only had one more shot on goal. The Cats also had fewer penalties than Creighton. Both stats are firsts for the Cats this season.
#17 Kentucky will face Butler on Sunday in their final game at the Furman Invitational. The Bulldogs played against host Furman on Friday.
12FKentucky 101Creighton 224
Scoring SummaryCU David Wagenfuhr (Nash) 4:49CU Damien Westfield (Del Monte) 17:45UK Nathan Fleetwood (Unassisted) 25:14CU Mehdi Ballouchy (Nash, Westfield) 88:28CU Julian Nash (Ballouchy) 88:46
Shots: UK 19; CU 12Saves: UK 2; CU 6Corners: UK 8; CU 7Fouls: UK 13; CU 16Yellow Cards: UK 3; CU 3Red Cards: UK 1
