LEXINGTON ? For the second time in as many weekends, the Kentucky men?s soccer team came away with a tie in exhibition action as the Wildcats fought to a scoreless draw with Oakland on Saturday night at the UK Soccer Complex.
The game was the final tune up for UK, which opens the regular season on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at home against Louisville. The game is part of the UK Invitational that begins with High Point meeting Alabama A&M at 5 p.m.
The first half of play was even as both teams battled in the middle third. The opening 45 minutes saw only four shots, two of which made it on goal. Kentucky?s best opportunity of the frame came in the 41st minute when sophomore Michael D?Agostino (Langley, British Columbia/Langley Secondary) split a pair of defenders and rifled a shot from 25 yards out. Only a diving effort from keeper Jeff Wiese kept the ball from finding the net.
?To be fair, we started a lot of young guys tonight and I thought we came out a bit slow,? said Kentucky head coach Ian Collins.
The second half was a different story as Kentucky controlled the flow of the game. The Wildcats had five shots in the half while the defense gave up just one.
?I felt like we really controlled the second half of the game,? Collins said. ?We held the ball the whole half and generated a number of good chances against a quality Oakland team. We probably should have had two goals in the second half.?
Of the five shots, two were golden opportunities UK couldn?t finish. In the 60th minute, Travis Young (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft School) beat a defender at the top of the left half of the box, but fired just wide of the far post.
In the 73rd minute, Rob Victor (Aiken, S.C./Aiken) had a loose ball bounce to him at the penalty spot, turned a rifled a shot only to see Wiese make another brilliant diving save.
Kentucky goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley North), a preseason first-team All-American, faced no serious threats as the Wildcat defense put the clamps on.
?The effort we got from our defense in the second half is what I expect from those guys,? Collins said. ?We have a lot of experience in the back and those guys played well tonight.?
The game was ruled a tie after regulation play and the two teams played an unofficial 30-minute period to allow each team to play more players.
In the period, Kentucky tallied a pair of goals from Victor and junior Matt Baum (Cape Coral, Fla./Cypress Lake). Oakland produced a pair of offensive chances in the extra time, but senior goalkeeper Brannan Sapp (Kernersville, N.C./East Forsyth) came up with saves both times.
