LEXINGTON ? The 18th-ranked Kentucky soccer team scored a pair of goals 50 seconds apart to overcome soggy conditions and a stubborn Central Florida squad to nail down a big 2-1 victory on Wednesday night at the UK Soccer Complex.
The win improved UK to 9-3-1 on the season and 2-1 in Conference USA. Coming off the SMU loss on Saturday, the Wildcats are now 9-1-3 in their last 13 games following a defeat. UCF, which in the last week had knocked off No. 17 Memphis and tied a UAB squad that has been in and out of the top 25 all year, fell to 3-7-1 and 1-2-1 in the league.
Trailing at halftime for just the fourth time in the last two-plus seasons, Kentucky found away to rally with goals coming less than a minute apart from Michael D?Agostino and Barry Rice just over 10 minutes into the second 45. The game marked the fourth come-from-behind win since 2003 for UK.
In the 57th minute, D?Agostino took a pass on the left half of the box from Brad Frederick and, trying to keep the ball down, fired a bouncer from eight yards out that went over the head of keeper Marcus Rein as he came out and into the side netting for the tying goal.
Less than a minute later, D?Agostino found Rice just outside the right half of the 18, where he cracked a shot low inside the far post for the game-winner. It was the first career goal for Rice who is tied for the team lead in assists with five.
The goals were the fifth fastest back-to-back scores in school history. Masumi Turnbull almost made it three goals in 90 seconds when a ball was played in and he and Rein collided right in front of the goal. Turnbull was able to push a shot towards the line, but it rolled wide.
UCF had its shot to tie on what would have been an amazing goal had Andrew Alexander not been on the line to head it away. In the 76th minute, Matt Baum and keeper Dan Williams collided going for a loose ball near the penalty spot. As the ball bounced away, Ryan Roushandel whipped a bicycle kick on goal that would have been just inside the right post, but Alexander was there to preserve the lead.
Despite trailing for 20 minutes of play and winning by one goal, Kentucky dominated. The Wildcats had 20 shots to just 10 for the Golden Knights, including 10 on goal compared to just two.
The only breakdown came in the 37th minute when a pair of defenders converged on Andy Mastellar, who fed a wide open Zack Boggs at the left corner of the box. He took one touch and shot low to the far post for a 1-0 UCF lead.
While the game was still scoreless, the Wildcats had two golden opportunities they couldn?t convert. On a play similar to the Golden Knights goal, Keegan Nash came streaking up the right side, received a pass at the corner of the box and ripped a shot that went inches wide of the near post in the 20th minute.
Eight minutes later, Mark Halma took a pass at the top of the box and sent a shot that careened off the left post.
Kentucky returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to UAB for a 7 p.m. CT kick off. The Wildcats have won each of the last two meetings between the two teams.
