The University of Kentucky men’s soccer team extended fourth-ranked and fifth-seeded Clemson to three overtimes before falling, 1-0, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 25 at Riggs Field on the Clemson campus. The Cats end the season at 14-6-1, while the Tigers move on to the third round with an 18-4-0 record.
“From end to end, this was one of the best college soccer matches I have ever seen,” Coach Ian Collins said. “It was evenly played, and sooner or later one team would have to take advantage. In my 15 years of coaching, I have never been as proud of a team as I am of these guys.”
The Tigers sealed the win in the 124th minute as they pushed a counterattack. With excellent passing from his teammates, Kenneth Cutler took the ball down the right side past the UK defense. His blast from about 15 yards out had the perfect angle and slipped by Wildcat goalkeeper Greg Raber’s reach.
Despite the length of the match, the game could have ended long before then. Clemson came out on the attack from the opening kickoff, but the Cats held them without a shot for the first 10 minutes of the game before settling down offensively. From that point, it was evenly contested, and on the day, CU outshot UK 15-14, with both teams earning eight corner kicks each.
It was not until the overtime periods that both teams really began to attack. Fabio Tambosi nearly gave the Tigers the win at the 101:10 mark with a save that was just under the crossbar, but a perfectly timed tip by Raber kept the Cats in the game.
In the second overtime, just 15 minutes later, Nathan Fleetwood sent a 10-yard shot from the right side that would have beaten Tiger goalkeeper Doug Warren had it not clipped the right post. Warren made eight saves on the day to hold UK scoreless for just the fifth time this season.
“Everyone in the stands thought that was going in,” Collins said. “When Nathan pulled that ball in to shoot, I was ready to run on the field. The whole team was ready to run on the field.”
However, it was not meant to be, and the Cats end their best season since 1995. That year, UK reeled off 16 wins scoring 49 goals off 46 assists for 144 points. In 2001, Kentucky tallied 39 goals off a school-record 47 assists for 125 points.
This match also marked the end of the careers of four seniors: Ilkka Jantti, Chris McAlpine, Randy Strobo and Marc Theriault. Jantti, the 2001 MAC Player of the Year, played in his 80th game as a Wildcat against Clemson to move into third place all-time at UK, and his start moved him up to 79 on his career to finish second all-time.
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Attendance: 1,380
Scoring: Kentucky – none, Clemson – Kenneth Cutler (Ross Goodacre, Brett Branan)
Shots: Kentucky 14, Clemson 15
Corner Kicks: Kentucky 8, Clemson 8
Goalkeeper Saves: Kentucky – Greg Raber 3, Clemson – 8
