October 9, 1998

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University of Kentucky men’s soccer team topped Buffalo 4-2 on Friday and now stand alone atop the Mid-American Conference standings.

MAC Player-of-the-Week Michael Stickler opened the scoring for the Cats, blasting a loose ball into the UB net to give UK a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute. Brent Rainey joined Stickler in the scoring column in the 41st minute, whistling a shot past the UB keeper to give UK a 2-0 halftime lead. Buffalo’s Steve Butcher, the MAC’s leading scorer, brought the Bulls back to within one when his rolling shot found its way into the net to bring the score to 2-1 in the 48th minute.

The Cats dominated the next three minutes, as Rob Frey and Stickler added two quick Wildcat strikes to give UK a 4-1 lead with just under 40 minutes remaining.

UB (10-4, 2-1 MAC) added another goal in the 57th minute, but its comeback bid fell short.

With the win, UK (7-5) extends its school-record win streak to seven games and improves to 3-0 in the MAC.

The Cats return to MAC action on Sunday, as UK travels to Akron to take on the Zips at 2 p.m.

12FUK224UB022

Goals: UK – Michael Stickler (none) 26:57, Brent Rainey (Billy Dwyer) 41:54, Rob Frey (Chris McAlpine) 50:15, Stickler (Rainey) 51:02; UB – Steve Butcher (Songer) 48:55, Brian McCallion (Butcher) 57:56
Shots: UK 15, UB 12
Corner Kicks: UK 4, UB 3
Goalkeeper Saves: UK (O’Leary) 6, UB (Schoenberg, Demming) 9
Fouls: UK 8, UB 11