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LEXINGTON ? The Kentucky soccer team opened its 2004 home slate in dominating fashion with a 3-1 victory over UNC-Asheville on Friday night in front of 712 at the UK Soccer Complex.
The win, the second straight for the Wildcats, moved Kentucky to 2-2 on the season. Both losses came last weekend against top 20 competition. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs fell to 1-1-1 on the year.
Early on, neither team could gain control as most of the action stayed in the middle third of the field. The first shot didn?t come until the 31st minute when Nathan Neal fired wide for UNC-Asheville.
It took two more minutes for Kentucky to get its first shot. Jamal Shteiwi?s attempts was cleared out by the Bulldog defense. However, it fell right to Thomas Senecal, who rifled a shot into the top right corner from 35 yards out.
The series of events seemed to energize the Wildcats as they scored again less than four minutes later and kept the pressure on for the remainder of the half.
Shteiwi netted a penalty kick for the 2-0 lead. It was his third straight game with a goal and he has a point (goal or assist) in five straight games dating back to last year. The opportunity was provided by Anthony Peters, who was taken down in the box after beating two UNC-Asheville defenders.
Early in the second half, Riley O?Neill had a chance to extend the lead to three, but fired a shot off the post.
Jordan Holthouser cut the lead in half when his shot was deflected by Kentucky?s Jeremy Groves for an own goal in the 50th minute.
Kentucky answered in less than three minutes as Peters made a tremendous move in the box to get a point-blank shot. After a great save by Ben Saylor, the rebound fell to Andrew Alexander who put in the back of the net for his first career goal.
The final 35 minutes were controlled mostly by the Wildcats, who tallied 10 second half shots to just three for UNC-Asheville. Kentucky held a 15-5 shot advantage for the game.
The Wildcats return to action on Sunday when they open Mid-America Conference action at Western Michigan for a 1 p.m. contest. Kentucky is the defending MAC champion after not allowing a goal en route to a 6-0 record in league play last season.
