UK Begins Play in Program’s Second NCAA Tournament
(N0v. 17, 2000) — For the second consecutive season, the University of Kentucky men’s soccer team will begin play in the NCAA Tournament against one of the top teams in the country when it faces the 9th-ranked St. Louis Billikens on Saturday, November 18. Action gets underway at 4:30 p.m. EST at Robert R. Hermann Stadium on the campus of St. Louis University. This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
On Nov. 12, the Cats (11-8-1) played their way into this season’s tournament with a 1-0 victory over Bowling Green in theMid-American Conference Tournament title match. The Cats took the lead in the 24th minute when freshmen Brook Pearse andChris Austin combined for the game-winning goal. The score was Pearse’s second of the season, while Austin was credited for hissecond assist. The win gave UK its second consecutive league title and NCAA berth as the Cats played superb defense to hold theFalcons scoreless. The key defensive play of the contest was senior goalkeeper Brian O’Leary’s save on a penalty kick that wouldhave tied the game with less than five minutes remaining in the first half.
The Cats are led by sophomore Chris McDaniel, who has notched a team-leading five goals and 11 points on the season. He scoredUK’s lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Northern Illinois in the first round of the MAC tourney. Seniors Giovani Fernandes and TylerCook and freshman Chris Soler are tied for second on the team with eight points, while juniors Ilkka Jantti and Marc Theriault havesix. Theriault scored the game-winning goal in the MAC semifinals against Marshall, while Cook assisted on two of UK’spost-season scores.
In 18 games between the pipes, O’Leary has faced 162 shots, giving up only 19 goals while tallying 51 saves for a 1.03 overallgoals-against average and a 0.77 league GAA. He has notched eight shutouts on the season, including three straight in the MACtournament, bringing his career total to 22.
The Billikens (13-3-2) are playing in their record 39th NCAA Tournament in the event’s 42-year history. They have won 10national championships, have been to 17 Final Fours, and have won more games than any other school in the history of thetournament with a 58-28-3 record. SLU earned the Conference USA automatic NCAA berth by defeating Alabama Birmingham2-1 in the conference title match.
Two Billikens have shown a proficiency for scoring. Sophomore Jack Jewsbury has notched a team-leading 13 goals on theseason and has tallied five assists. Freshman Brad Davis is second on the team with 11 goals and tied for first with six assists. In goal,junior John Politis and senior Paul Nagy have shared time. Politis has seen action in 10 games, earning seven shutouts with a 0.65GAA, while Nagy has played in eight games with one shutout and a 1.19 GAA.
SLU and UK have faced two common opponents: Louisville and Vanderbilt. The Cardinals fell to both, dropping the match 1-3to St. Louis and 1-2 to Kentucky. The teams split with Vanderbilt, as the Cats fell to the Commodores, 0-1 in overtime, and theBillikens triumphed, 9-0.
