OXFORD, Ohio-The University of Kentucky men’s soccer team won itsMid-American Conference Tournament opener 2-1 over Western Michiganat Oxford, Ohio, on Thursday.

During the scoreless first half, UK,s Brien Baltzell was red-carded at the42:20 mark for fighting.

Wildcat Sean Mondelli opened the scoring for UK in the 46th minute off arebound of a Matt Wilkerson miss. WMU,s Robert Lott evened the scoreseven minutes later, but Kentucky,s Chris Villamil put the Cats ahead forgood with a goal at 67:04. It was Villamil,s third game-winning goal of theseason.

With the win, UK (12-6-2) advances to play in the second round on Friday.The Broncos close the season with a 5-8-4 record.

Kentucky vs. Western Michigan

    1   2   FKentucky            0   2   2Western Michigan    0   1   1

Goals: UK-Mondelli (unassisted) 46:21, Villamil (unassisted) 67:04WMU-Lott (unassisted) 53:56
Shots: UK 11, WMU 6.
Corner Kicks: UK 3, WMU 0.
Goalkeeper Saves: UK 4, WMU 5.
Fouls: UK 16, WMU 14.