LEXINGTON, Ky. — Sophomore defender Barry Rice netted two goals and senior forward Aaron Swanson added another, to lead the Kentucky men?s soccer team to a dramatic 3-1 win over Conference USA rival Marshall, on a cold, windy evening at the UK Soccer Complex.
Rice, UK?s leading scorer despite playing a defender position, netted his sixth and seventh goals of the season to pace a Wildcat squad to a season-high tying three-goal performance. Rice finished with five points in the contest, hooking up with Aaron Swanson on UK?s first goal of the game.
In the 17th minute, Kentucky took early control of the contest, as senior Adam Midkiff passed a ball to Rice, who played the ball through the Thundering Herd defense to Swanson, who fired a shot that was initially stopped by the Marshall keeper. The ball squirted through the keeper?s legs for the first goal of the contest. The goal was Swanson?s fifth of the season and the assist marked Rice?s first of the year.
Rice didn?t waste anytime putting the game away for the Wildcats, firing a free kick in the 20th minute from about 24 yards away. Rice drilled a high-arching shot over the wall of Marshall defenders and just past the jumping outstretched arms of the Thundering Herd keeper, Craig Ratanamorn. The ball slide off the middle of the top post, inches away from Rantanamorn?s hands, falling into the back of the net.
Marshall (8-6-1, 2-3 C-USA) answered UK in the 29th minute, as senior John Daniele rebounded a missed shot from Jeff Lenix and fired the ball into the back of the net, past UK?s keeper Dan Williams who found himself out of position after defending the initial threat. The goal was Daniele?s third of the season.
Rice, a Parma, Ohio native, decided to put the game away in the 76th minute, finding the net with a header off a corner kick from midfielder Brad Frederick. Rice, who has headed in six of his seven goals this season, dove into the ball from about six yards out and directed it into the corner of the net for UK?s third goal of the contest.
Kentucky (5-7-2, 3-2 C-USA) dominated the pace of the game throughout, pulling out its second consecutive conference win. Both squads came out of the gate intense, with neither club firing a shot in the first ten minutes. Kentucky ended up firing a total of 10 shots to the Thundering Herd seven, in addition to control the corner kicks with seven to MU?s five. UK?s defense was so stout throughout the evening, that a constantly threatening Marshall didn?t register its first shot of the game until the 27th minute and didn?t get a corner kick in the second half until the 80th minute.
UK had several opportunities throughout the game, particularly in the 24th minute when a ball was played through the Marshall defense to a wide open Swanson. Swanson had a golden opportunity but instead of taking the open shot, the senior tried to play the ball back to the middle of the six-yard box to a teammate, but the Thundering Herd thwarted the UK scoring threat.
In the 57th minute, it looked as if UK had netted its third goal, as the Wildcats fired a shot off a deflected corner that trickled past the MU keeper into the net. The goal was waved off however, as the side official raised a controversial offside flag.
Kentucky returns to action over the weekend as it travels to Miami, Fla., to face off with Florida International in a crucial C-USA tilt. Kickoff on Saturday is slated for 7 p.m. EDT.
