Sept. 22, 2002
The 22nd-ranked University of Kentucky men’s soccer team (4-3-0) dropped a 2-1 decision to Coastal Carolina (7-0-1) in the championship game of the University of Kentucky/Traditional Bank Invitational Sunday at the UK Soccer Complex. 90 minutes of regulation time were not enough to decide the game, which was ended in the fourth minute of the first overtime period by Coastal’s Tobin Whitmarsh.
For the second consecutive match, the Wildcats gave up an early goal. In the 13th minute, Mike Littlefield put the Chanticleers on the board when he put home a pass from Jason Smith. His goal marks the fifth game in a row that Littlefield has scored.
The Wildcats again looked poised to come-from-behind. At 14:41, a header by junior Brook Pearse found its way past CCU’s Aaron Sanders and inside the back post to give UK the equalizer. Freshman Jani Modig and junior Nathan Fleetwood contributed assists on the play.
Kentucky would go down a man at the 21:58 mark, when junior Craig Pykett received his second yellow card of the match. UK played 10-on-11 for the remainder of the match.
CCU utilized their man-advantage to attack the Wildcats and outshot Kentucky 17-10 on the day. The Wildcats were kept in the game by senior goalkeeper Greg Raber, who made seven key saves in the match.
In overtime, Whitmarsh took a through-pass from Thomas Rutter and scored the golden goal at 93:52.
Raber, Fleetwood and senior J.D. Stephenson were the Wildcats’ contribution to the All-Tournament team, with Joseph Ngwenya, Rutter, Smith and Whitmarsh from Coastal Carolina earning similar honors. Adrian Balc and Stephen Ademolu represented Cleveland State, while Clayton Cochrane and Byron Carmichael were selected from Marshall.
In the first match of the day, Cleveland State defeated Marshall by a score of 5-2. After a scoreless first half the teams exploded in the second period. Balc scored two goals for the Vikings, who captured third place in the tournament. Fourth-place Marshall’s Carmichael, the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week, had a goal for the Herd.
The Wildcats return to the field Friday when they open MAC play against Bowling Green at 8 p.m.
1 2 OT FKentucky 1 0 0 1Coastal Carolina 1 0 1 2
Scoring SummaryCCU Mike Littlefield (Smith)12:13UK Brook Pearse (Modig, Fleetwood)14:41CCUTobin Whitmarsh (Rutter)93:52
Shots: UK 10; CCU 17Saves: UK 7; CCU 5Corners: UK 6; CCU 5Fouls: UK 9; CCU 9Cards: UK 5; CCU 4Attendance: 872
Tournament Finishing Order
1. Coastal Carolina (2-0, +4)
2. Kentucky (1-1, +1)
3. Cleveland State (1-1, +1)
4. Marshall (0-2, -6)
All-Tournament Team
Stephen Ademolu, Cleveland State
Adrian Balc, Cleveland State
Byron Carmichael, Marshall
Clayton Cochrane, Marshall
Nathan Fleetwood, Kentucky
Joseph Ngwenya, Coastal Carolina – MVP
Greg Raber, Kentucky
Thomas Rutter, Coastal Carolina
Jason Smith, Coastal Carolina
J.D. Stephenson, Kentucky
Tobin Whitmarsh, Coastal Carolina
