Sept. 1, 2001
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Despite playing a man down for the last eight minutes of the first half and the duration of the second half and overtime, the No. 23 Kentucky men’s soccer team took No. 4 Indiana to double overtime before falling 1-0 in the final game of the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.
In a game dominated by the Hoosier offense which outshot UK (1-1-0) 21-0, the Cats had few chances to score but were able to get a number of serves to the goal. However, the most important statistic for UK was the score that remained fixed at 0-0 through regulation and 22 minutes of overtime.
“This was just an absolutely outstanding defensive effort by our guys,” Coach Ian Collins said. “With more than seven minutes remaining in the first half we had to play a man down, and this team could have folded. But they didn’t. They showed an unbelievable amount of heart tonight. I couldn’t have asked any more from them, and I am extremely proud.”
The game-winner came at the 112:32 mark of the second overtime when J.D. Johnston served up a free kick from the right side of the penalty box which John Swann headed into the hands of UK goalkeeper Brad Samelko. However, the ball squirted through giving the Hoosiers (1-1-0) their first win of the season. Samelko had a career-high eight saves on the night.
The Cats lost Chris Soler for the game at the 32:04 mark of the first half when he was called for a dangerous tackle and issued a red card. From that point on, UK had to play with only 10 players to IU’s 11. However, that did not stymie the Cats’ defensive effort that continued to hold the Hoosiers scoreless for 75 more minutes.
For their outstanding play against Butler and IU, senior Ilkka Jantti and freshman Olli Lehtimaki were named to the IU Classic All-Tournament team.
UK returns to the Bluegrass for a four-game home stand that gets underway when No. 18 Ohio State invades the UK Soccer Complex on Friday, Sept. 7, at 7:30 p.m.
12OT OTFKentucky000 00Indiana000 11
Attendance: 3,568
Scoring: Kentucky – none, Indiana – John Swann (J.D. Johnston) 112:32
Shots: Kentucky 0, Indiana 21
Corner Kicks: Kentucky 3, Indiana 13
Goalkeeper Saves: Kentucky – Brad Samelko 8, Indiana – Colin Rogers 0
