The Wildcats suffered their first conference defeat of the season.
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Kentucky (12-6-1) fell to Bowling Green State (8-8-5), 1-0, in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament, Sunday afternoon. Kentucky must wait until the NCAA tournament field is announced, Nov. 17 at 4:00 p.m., to see if it will earn an at-large bid for post season play. The Wildcats have consistently been a top-five team in the Great Lakes Region, have the 10th best goals against average as a team and recorded nine shutouts on the year.
Freshman forward Dustin Snyder, the leading goal scorer for the Falcons, netted the lone goal of the game off an assist from Daniel Bartulovic with three minutes remaining in the match. Kentucky senior Chris Austin slipped while playing a ball from 30 yards out and Bartulovic advanced it to the top of the box on a two-on-one break. Kentucky goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum made a play on the ball, but could not reach it before Bartulovic’s pass found Snyder for the goal.
UK continued to apply pressure to the BGSU defense following Snyder’s goal, but could not score the equalizer before time expired.
Kentucky played the majority of the first half and the entire second half a man down after Craig Pykett picked up his second yellow card in the 25th minute of the match and was disqualified.
“I think with eleven people on the field this would have been a much different game,” head coach Ian Collins said. “We were very much in the match even with a man down and it is unfortunate that we couldn’t play with a full lineup.”
The Cats suffered their first loss against a MAC opponent this season and the Falcons’ goal was the first scored on the UK defense in conference play.
Kentucky and Bowling Green played a scoreless first half with both teams attempting five shots. Kentucky freshman Riley O’Neill scored what appeared to be the first goal of the game 11 minutes into the contest, but it was waived off due to an offsides call. The Wildcats threatened again in the 39th minute when sophomore Adam Walker’s free kick from 22 yards out was saved by BGSU goalkeeper, David DeGraff.
UK blanked BGSU, 3-0, when the two teams met earlier this season in Bowling Green. The Cats victory over the Falcons on Oct. 5 initiated Kentucky’s undefeated run through conference play. Kentucky finished the regular season without relinquishing a goal against a MAC opponent.
Kentucky has played in the semifinal round of the conference tournament every year since joining the MAC in 1995 and its regular season title was its third in four seasons.
In the first semifinal match, No. 3 seed Western Michigan defeated No. 2 seed Akron, 5-4 in a shootout. The Broncos and Zips played to a 0-0 tie through two overtimes and each team scored three goals in the initial round of five attempts. In the second shootout session, Akron missed on its first attempt and Western Michigan scored on its next attempt to win the match.
Bowling Green advanced to face Western Michigan in the tournament finals next weekend. The official date and time of the game is to be determined.
Kentucky must wait until the NCAA field is announced, Nov. 17 at 3:30 p.m., to see if it will earn an at-large bid for post season play. The Wildcats have consistently been a top-five team in the Great Lakes Region and recorded nine shutouts on the year.
