Oct. 12, 2001

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The University of Kentucky men’s soccer team returns to the friendly confines of the UK Soccer Complex for a three-game home stand that begins with Mid-American Conference-foe Buffalo on Sunday, Oct. 14. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

“This is going to be a difficult game for us,” Coach Ian Collins said. “Buffalo is coming in ready to play after a big conference win. We will have to play our best to get a good result.”

UK (6-4-1, 3-0-0 MAC) returns from a successful road trip to Ohio and Indiana where they claimed victories over Bowling Green and IUPUI. Heading into their fourth league match of the season, the Cats have outscored their MAC competition 7-2 and are in second place. With a win over Buffalo, Kentucky would be tied for first with Akron.

A win also will give Collins his 100th career victory. Coming into the 2001 season, Collins had collected 93 career wins, including 11 as head coach at Hofstra. As UK’s coach, Collins has 88 wins. He is only the second head coach in UK history, taking the reins from Sam Wooten in 1994

John Monebrake leads the UK offense with 13 points on five goals and three assists. Against Bowling Green, he tallied two goals for his second two-goal game of the season. J.D. Stephenson and Antti Peltonen also have contributed two goal performances for the Cats this season and are second on the team with three goals each. Ilkka Jantti leads the team and the MAC with four assists, while also leading a stingy defensive corps that has surrendered only 11 goals this season.

Kentucky made a change last weekend in goal when Greg Raber, a transfer from UNC Greensboro, entered the starting lineup. In two games, he has given up only one goal for a 0.50 goals-against average, which leads the MAC. He also tallied an assist against Bowling Green on the game-winning goal to become the first goalkeeper in UK history to assist a goal.

Buffalo (4-4-1, 1-2-0 MAC) opened conference play with two 1-0 defeats to Akron and Bowling Green but improved their record with a 3-2 upset over then-No. 23 Marshall. Bill Norberg, this week’s MAC Player of the Week, leads the Bulls with three goals on the year, while Patrick Beckley and Dave Pidgeon have tallied two scores each. Norberg scored two goals in less than a minute to help lead UB past the Thundering Herd.

In goal, Brian Wozniak has seen most of the minutes collecting 27 saves while allowing nine goals for a 1.08 goals-against average. He also has shutout two opponents.