Aug. 30, 2002
The 20th-ranked Kentucky men’s soccer team dropped a tough season-opening loss in the Virginia Soccer Classic to the tournament’s host, the fifth-ranked Cavaliers, by a score of 3-2. The Wildcats took a 2-1 lead early in the second half, but Virginia, undefeated in the 2001 regular season, came back and scored the game-winning goal in the 89th minute of regulation.
In the first half the teams combined for only seven shots. Virginia opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Ryan Kelly scored off assists from Jonathan Cole and Ryan Gibbs. UK waited until late in the half to respond, scoring with less than a minute on the clock when freshman Jani Modig’s corner kick found the head of senior Monty Frazier.
The second half was back and forth for 45 minutes. Kentucky scored in the 48th minute when senior Chris McDaniel collected a ball from junior Nathan Fleetwood and drove home the go-ahead goal. 15 minutes later, UVa’s Alecko Eskandarian banged a shot off of the inside of the near post for an equalizer. In the 89th minute of the match, Eskandarian turned outside the 18-yard box and rifled a shot just inside the near post to give UVa the 3-2 victory.
The teams combined for 46 fouls and 10 cards in a very physical match. With 16 minutes to go in the match, UK’s Frazier and UVa’s Jacob LeBlanc were each issued red cards, leaving the teams to end regulation with 10 players each. UK had lost another starter in the first half when sophomore Olli Lehtimaki left the game in the fifth minute.
“This was a heartbreaking loss,” UK Coach Ian Collins said. “We deserved better. But we proved tonight that we can play with the top teams in the country. We’ll just have to pick ourselves up and bounce back on Sunday.”
Kentucky will face No. 10 Maryland on Sunday in their final game at the Virginia Soccer Classic. The Terrapins defeated Rhode Island Friday night by a tally of 8-0.
1 2FKentucky 1 12Virginia 1 23
Scoring SummaryUVA Ryan Kelly (Cole, Gibbs) 14:30UK Monty Frazier (Modig) 44:10UK Chris McDaniel (Fleetwood) 47:49UVA Alecko Eskandarian (Arena) 61:10UVA Alecko Eskandarian (Oliver) 88:38
Shots: UK 6, UVA 17Saves: UK 2; UVA 3Corners: UK 4; UVA 3Fouls: UK 28; UVA 18Yellow Cards: UK 5 (Frazier 5:03, Pearse 41:06, Peters 66:44, Stephenson 83:10, Modig 83:18); UVA 3 (Kelly 4:35, Arena 47:12, LeBlanc 60:01)Red Cards: UK 1 (Frazier 74:11); UVA 1 (LeBlanc 74:11)Attendance: 2,123
