DALLAS ? Kellan Zindel and Jake Jackson scored just four minutes apart in the second half as No. 7 SMU notched a 3-1 win over Kentucky on Friday night at Westcott Field in the SMU Mi Cocina Classic.
Zindel broke a 1-1 tie in the 61st minute when he beat Andy Gruenebaum for the goal. He was fortunate as the ball rolled right to him after Jackson whiffed on a shot attempt on a cross by Danny Vazquez. Zindel was open as the defense had converged on Jackson.
In the 65th minute, Duke Hashimoto won a ball over the top of the Kentucky defense and then played it back to Jackson 25 yards out. Jackson struck it perfectly as the ball grazed the crossbar and fell into the goal for a 3-1 SMU lead.
The flurry came after a long stretch that opened the second half that saw neither team mount many scoring chances.
Gruenebaum made a pair of incredible back-to-back saves to prevent a fourth Mustang goal with just over seven minutes to play. Dario Saintus had an unimpeded run at goal from 40 yards out after winning a ball. His shot was saved by a diving Gruenebaum.
The rebound careened right to Hashimoto, who immediately put it on goal from the right side only to have Gruenebaum shut the door on him as well.
SMU scored first on a penalty kick by Mynor Gonzalez in the 14th minute. Ugo Ihemelo was fouled deep in the box after a run down the right side to give SMU the opportunity.
Thomas Senecal knotted the match for Kentucky with a header off a beautiful corner from Jamal Shteiwi in the 22nd minute. Shteiwi sent the ball to the back post and Senecal, who stands 6-4, outjumped everyone to put it in the back of the net.
The goal capped a stretch of 11 minutes that featured five Wildcat shots on goal, including two that hit the crossbar. The span began when Shteiwi put a good foot on a free kick from just outside the box, but a diving T.J. Tomasso deflected shot.
The rebound off the crossbar bounced right to Riley O?Neill, who took the ball off the bounce and hit the identical spot on the bar from six yards out.
Following the score, play bounced back and forth as neither team mounted a serious threat until the half was winding down. The Mustangs had a scoring chance in the 43rd minute when Kellan Zindel broke through the Kentucky defense. After giving the ball off, he got it back and fired a shot that was saved by Gruenebaum.
Kentucky countered with less than a minute remaining in the opening half. Matt Baum got a header on goal that a leaping Tomasso made a save on. Tomasso made two first half saves while Gruenebaum doubled that total with four and had seven for the game.
SMU opened strong and had five shots in the first 11 minutes, including three on goal before the Wildcats settled down.
Kentucky wraps up the weekend on Sunday when it faces No. 17 Tulsa at 2 p.m. ET. The Golden Hurricane fought to a scoreless tie with Stanford in the tournament?s opener on Friday night.
