Oct. 25, 2002
The University of Kentucky men’s soccer team defeated Mid-American Conference foe Western Michigan, 2-1, on Friday afternoon in Kalamazoo. With the win, UK ends its four-game losing skid and earns its first conference victory of the season.
Western Michigan got on the board first in the 15th minute when Pat Wilson scored off of a Mike Bravo corner kick. The Broncos would take 11 shots in the first half, but were unable to score again.
Kentucky quickly fought back, scoring an equalizer in the 19th minute. Freshman Dani Kamras scored his fourth goal of the season, cracking the ball into the upper 90 from 18 yards out. At the half, the teams were tied at one.
In the second half, UK picked up the pace and outshot Western Michigan by a 14-5 tally. The Cats controlled the run of play, but were held scoreless by the hardware – Kentucky hit the post or the crossbar four times.
The game winner came in the 86th minute. A Kentucky corner kick was deflected to the top of the 18-yard box where UK’s Chris Austin was positioned. The junior defender rocketed a one-timer into the back of the net.
Freshman goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum, playing in only his third career match, made seven saves for the Wildcats to earn his first collegiate victory.
“We’ve hit a tough spot in last week, but I felt like we came out of it today,” Coach Ian Collins said. “We played very well. We didn’t convert all of our chances, but this performance was something we can build on for the remainder of the season.”
The Wildcats will return to Lexington and play host to MAC-foe Northern Illinois on Sunday, Oct. 27, at 2 p.m.
1 2 FKentucky 1 1 2Western Michigan 1 0 1
Scoring SummaryWMU Pat Wilson (Bravo) 14:34UK Dani Kamras 18:58UK Chris Austin 85:40
Shots: UK 18; WMU 16Saves: UK 7; WMU 3Corners: UK 3; WMU 7Fouls: UK 19; WMU 14Cards: UK 5; WMU 1Attendance: 79
