Cats Return to Win Column With Victory Over Jaguars
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(Sept. 22, 2000) — The University of Kentucky mens soccer team returned to the win column with a 3-2 victory over IUPUI on September 22, at the UK Soccer Complex.
Ilkka Jantti scored the game-winner in the 79th minute off of a Brent Rainey corner kick and a Tyler Cook touch to set the final margin. Jantti put the Cats (3-4-0) in position to score just 23 seconds earlier when an IUPUI player deflected his shot over the end line to set up the corner kick that put UK ahead.
The Cats outplayed the Jaguars (3-3-1) the entire game keeping the ball near the IUPUI goal and outshooting the Jags 22-7, while holding a 13-2 advantage in corner kicks.
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“We played great,” head coach Ian Collins said. “We dominated for 85 minutes. However, a 2-0 lead is the toughest lead in soccer, and we showed that by giving up two goals. We had a couple of chances to go ahead 3-0 and put them away but just missed. We came in here to win, and thats what we did. I am very pleased.”
UK got on the board early when Brian Mitts headed a Giovani Fernandes pass to Chris McDaniel who blasted the ball past goalkeeper Armando Femia for the 1-0 lead.
The Jaguars nearly tied the game just a minute and a half later when leading scorer Thies Hermann sent the ball in hard, but UK goalkeeper Brian OLeary was there for the stop to collect his tenth save of the season.
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Less than six minutes later, Ryan Grady received a pass from McDaniel and took the defender one-on-one getting past him with excellent footwork and then beat Femia for the 2-0 cushion and his second goal of the season.
Though the Cats did not relax, IUPUI attacked even harder. In the 58th minute, Hermann finally found the net to pull the Jaguars within one and then tied the game at 61:59. However, that was all the Jags could muster as the UK defense stiffened and the UK offense stayed strong.
UK returns to action when it hosts intrastate rival Western Kentucky on Sunday, Sept. 24, at 2 p.m. at the UK Soccer Complex.
1 2 FIUPUI 0 2 2Kentucky 2 1 3
Goals: UK Chris McDaniel (Giovani Fernandes, Brian Mitts) 22:33, Ryan Grady (Chris McDaniel) 28:03, Ilkka Jantti (Tyler Cook,Brent Rainey) 78:58; IUPUI Thies Hermann (Todd Sheely) 57:18, Thies Hermann (Jason Kunza) 61:59
Shots: UK 22; IUPUI 7
Goalkeeper Saves: UK Brian OLeary 1; IUPUI Armando Femia 1
Corner Kicks: UK 13; IUPUI 2
