Oct. 16, 2002
The University of Kentucky men’s soccer team lost a hard-fought battle to second-ranked Indiana 2-1 on Wednesday night at the UK Soccer Complex. The Wildcats (7-5-0) tied the match in the 85th minute when sophomore Jamal Shteiwi deflected a free kick for junior Nathan Fleetwood, but All-American Pat Noonan scored his second goal of the night, the game-winner, only 30 seconds later to give Indiana (11-1-2) the narrow victory.
The first half began with each team having chances early. Indiana’s Mike Ambersley had two shots on goal saves by Kentucky senior Greg Raber. UK’s counterattack pushed the ball up the field to senior John Monebrake, whose chance at a goal went wide. Late in the half, Indiana’s Mike Plotkin served a ball to Ryan Mack, whose header was punched in by Pat Noonan.
In the second half, the teams battled evenly for 40 minutes until UK found a break. Fleetwood rifled the ball through a mass of players and it was deflected by Shteiwi past IU’s Jay Nolly for the equalizing goal.
The second-ranked Hoosiers wasted no time after the goal, attacking directly from the ensuing kickoff. Indiana earned a corner kick, which Plotkin served to the near post. A Noonan header proved to be the game-winning goal.
“We’re very disappointed in tonight’s result,” Coach Ian Collins said. “I thought we played a great second half, we were the better team, but we had a lapse at the end that cost us the game.”
Kentucky will return to action Friday when they play host to Marshall in the opening game of Mid-American Conference play for the Cats.
1 2 FKentucky 0 1 1Indiana 1 1 2
Scoring SummaryIU Noonan (Mack, Plotkin) 42:24UK Shteiwi (Fleetwood) 84:05IU Noonan (Plotkin) 84:35
Shots: UK 7; IU 13Saves: UK 5; IU 3Corners: UK 5; IU 9Fouls: UK 27; IU 13Cards: UK 2; IU 1Attendance: 1,668
