Aug. 29, 2008
LEXINGTON, Ky. —
Behind two goals each from freshman Taylor White and senior Michael Strong, the Kentucky men’s soccer team cruised to a 6-0 season-opening win over Central Arkansas in the opening round of the UK Invitational, played Friday at the UK Soccer Complex.
Kentucky
tore up the record books in its first game of the season, jumping all over UCA for four goals in the first half and two in the second, outshooting UCA 16-1. The Wildcats got its four goals in the first half in a span of just 14 minutes.
UK
‘s 6-0 win improves its record to 9-8-1 overall in season openers, and its six goals marks the most goals scored in an opener in program history. In 1995, UK opened its season with a 5-0 win over Valparaiso, a season that saw UK post a school-record 16 wins.
A year after battling injury issues that saw as many as 14 members of the regular playing rotation miss time, UK’s six goals vs. UCA would account for 28-percent of the total number of goals Kentucky finished with in 2007 (23).
White, a freshman from Marietta, Ga., made quite a splash while suiting up in his first collegiate game, netting two goals and adding an assist. White’s two goals are believed to be the most for a player making his collegiate debut in a UK uniform. A 6-foot-3, 205-pound forward, White needed only 61 minutes to rack up five points, scoring both of UK’s opening goals and assisting on Strong’s first goal in the 38th minute.
Strong, a senior forward, had a huge impact while playing in his first game since 2006, coming off the bench in the 32nd minute and scoring both of his goals and adding an assist before the half. Strong, a native of San Antonio, Texas, notched his 12th and 13th career goals and his seventh career assist.
Strong and White became the 50th and 51st players in UK history to total two goals in a game. Chris Soler holds the record with four goals in 2001, a dominating performance vs. Georgetown College. Only five times in program history has a Wildcat totaled more then two goals against a NCAA foe.
In terms of the record book, UK’s 6-0 win secures a spot in the single-game record books for points (18, 5th all-time), goals (6, T-4th), goals in a half (4, T-3rd), assists (6, T-5th) and assists in a half (5, T-3rd). After UK’s second goal, the Wildcats needed just two minutes and 36 seconds to net its third goal.
UK
got an outstanding performance from its veteran goalkeeper, team co-captain Dan Williams. Williams, regarded as one of the top keepers in college soccer, faced only one shot in his near 73 minutes, combining with senior Grant Ward to post the shutout. UCA keeper Greg Brooks finished with four saves in his six allowed goals, playing the total 90 minutes in between the pipes.
Kentucky
got on the board first in the 30th minute, as White rebounded a deflected shot from preseason All-American Barry Rice and fired it into the back right past the keeper.
In the 36th, White took a ball from Strong and shot a ball high past the keeper into the back left of the net.
Just two minutes later, Strong took a ball that haphazardly passed through the defense, shooting from about eight yards out for his first goal of 2008.
In the 60th minute, UK’s freshman forward Marco dos Santos, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, netted his first career goal. Dos Santos took a deflected shot that Brooks managed to get a glove on and lofted it over the head of a defender attempting to cover the goal for an out of position Brooks.
Dos Santos and White were not the only newcomers getting their first goals in a UK uniform as junior George Davis IV took a feed from sophomore midfielder Jirijoonas Kanth, shooting the ball into the far corner. Kanth’s assist was his third career, as the Finland native finished with two in 2007.
Rice, the preseason Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, won a total of 10 headers in 10 attempts.
In the first game of the UK Invitational, Evansville dominated play for 90 minutes and needed goals in the final 10 minutes to secure a season-opening win over Detroit, getting goals from Mike Luttrell and Tyler Crawford for the difference.
The UK Invitational resumes on Sunday, as Evansville and Central Arkansas face off at noon, before UK returns to the pitch at 2:30 p.m. ET for a match vs. Detroit. Admission is free to both games Sunday.