Kentucky aims to advance to the third round of NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history
1st Round vs. Cincinnati: | |
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Fresh off a shootout win over Cincinnati, the Kentucky Wildcats (12-6-2) will look to overcome the No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers (12-3-5), Wednesday evening when the two teams square off in Bloomington in the second round of the 45th annual NCAA Men?s Division I Soccer Championships. UK and IU are set to kickoff at 7 p.m. ET in what should be a tight match if recent history is any indication.
UK advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for third time in five years after defeating Cincinnati on penalty kicks, 4-2. Sophomore goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum recorded his 10th shutout of the season in the match, while recording 6 saves on the night, and sophomore Joey Gaworecki scored the decisive penalty kick to give Kentucky the victory. His biggest save of the night came in the shootout session when he blocked UC?s first attempt and gave his team momentum and confidence to overcome the Bearcats.
?(Andy?s) first save was world class,? said Head Coach Ian Collins said. ?That would have belonged in the World Cup. It was the greatest save I?ve ever seen in my life. It was unbelievable.?
No. 8 seed Indiana has been the dominant team that people have come to know and respect in the 31 years Jerry Yeagley has been at the helm. IU won its eighth consecutive Big Ten regular season championship and captured the Big Ten tournament championship with a double-overtime shootout win over Penn State. The Hoosiers are making their 17th straight and 28th overall in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cats and Hoosiers have split games this season with Kentucky winning the first meeting in preseason and Indiana taking the second in Bloomington at the end of the year. At the IPFW Soccer Showcase in August, Kentucky freshman Nathan Li scored with 26 seconds remaining to lift the Cats to a thrilling victory, 2-1, victory. Even though it doesn?t count in the record books, the win over then No. 7 IU provided the young UK team with a ton of confidence that has been maintained throughout the year.
In the two team?s most recent meeting, IU defeated Kentucky, 1-0 off a goal by Vijay Dias in the 10th minute of the game. The Wildcats played without defenders Thomas Senecal and Craig Pykett (both missed the game due to injury) and the gritty boys from the Bluegrass still managed several scoring opportunities and limited the five-time National Champions to three shots on goal.
The winner between Kentucky and Indiana will move on to face the winner between Virginia Tech (14-4-3) and Virginia Commonwealth (16-4-0) in the third round.
Live Stats: Fans can keep up the progress of the game via the live stats link on the front page of UKAthletics.com.
Wildcats Survive Tough 2003 Schedule
Kentucky faced one of the nation?s toughest schedules this past season and finished with a solid 12-6-1 record, good enough to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as a first round host site. UK opponents had a combined regular season record of 161-126-44 (.553) and its non-conference opponents record was 119-71-30 (.609).
Eight of Kentucky?s opponents qualified for the NCAA Tournament with four receiving first round byes. The Cats went 3-4-1 against tournament teams including a 1-0 win over Akron (14-4-2), who received a first round bye. MAC Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, etc. Several Kentucky players garnered recognition from the Mid-American Conference at the conclusion of the season. Junior Jamal Shteiwi became the second player in UK history to be named MAC Player of the Year and freshman Riley O?Neill became the fourth Wildcat to receive Newcomer of the Year recognition. Also, seven Kentucky players were named the All-MAC first and second teams. Shteiwi, Gruenebaum and sophomore Thomas Senecal made the first team, while sophomores Joey Gaworecki and Brandon Stewart along with freshmen O?Neill and Nathan Li received second team honors.
Shteiwi leads the conference in assists (12) and assists per game (0.60) and claimed his second consecutive All-MAC first team honor. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native has led Kentucky in scoring for the past two seasons and ranks second all-time at UK with 16 career assists.
O?Neill had one of the best freshman campaigns in Kentucky history. He leads the Cats in goals (6) and is second on the team with 15 points.
Gruenebaum has recorded 10 shutouts this year and currently has the second-lowest single season goals against average in Kentucky history (0.63). Greg Raber recorded a national best 0.40 in 2001.
Senecal is a physical defender who uses his 6-4 frame to win most of his aerial battles. He has three goals and four assists this season for Kentucky.
Kentucky in the National Spotlight
UK ranks 6th in the nation in team goals against average (0.62) and 7th in shutout percentage (0.50) in the NCAA among Division I men?s programs.
Also, Kentucky players have received national recognition over the course of the season. Jamal Shteiwi ranks 8th in the nation in assists per game average (0.60) and goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum ranks 6th with a 0.625 goals against average.
Gruenebaum was named to the College Soccer News ?National Team of the Week?, Oct. 19-24 and senior defender Chris Austin was named to the Soccer America Men?s Team of the Week the same week after UK picked up big wins over Western Michigan, 3-0, and then No. 12 Akron, 1-0.
NSCAA Great Lakes Region Poll
1. Notre Dame
2. Indiana
3. Akron
4. Michigan
5. Cincinnati
6. Wisconsin-Milwaukee
7. Kentucky
8. Dayton
9. Michigan State
10. Western Michigan
