Sept. 24, 2012
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Riding a three-game winning streak, the Kentucky men’s soccer team continues its road swing, traveling to face IPFW on Tuesday, with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. ET at the Hefner Soccer Complex.
Kentucky (4-4-0) is in the midst of a brutal stretch to open the season, where the Wildcats will play six of their first nine games away from the UK Soccer Complex. UK is riding a three-game winning streak after a 1-4 start to the year, with UK playing a challenging schedule with five of its first eight games coming against teams currently ranked in the top 25.
The Wildcats are coming off a 2-0 smashing at Evansville on Saturday night, as UK got goals from Tyler Riggs and Matt Lodge and the second shutout of the year from keeper Jack Van Arsdale. UK broke from its road slate last Wednesday with a 3-1 win over East Tennessee State and began its winning streak on Sept. 14 with a 1-0 win at No. 18 Louisville in front of 5,583 fans at Cardinal Park.
Kentucky has been paced by an explosive offensive unit, as the Wildcats are averaging 1.62 goals per game and 11.8 shots a contest, owning a 53-43 advantage in corner kicks. Riggs leads UK with three goals and three assists, while Lodge has four goals. Senior Charley Pettys has three goals and an assists, while Gabriel Conelian, Steven Perinovic and Bryan Celis have each added a goal. Kristoffer Tollefsen and Jacob Kemper each have two assists.
A native of Richmond, Va., Van Arsdale has a 0.90 goals-against average in six games and 500 minutes, saving 18 shots. UK freshman keeper Callum Irving has a 2.00 goals-against average in three starts, saving seven shots in 225 minutes.
IPFW (0-9-0) have totaled four goals in nine games and allowed 21 opponent tallies. The Mastodons have taken 8.8 shots per game. Corey Tom has two goals to lead the team, while Brent Helton and Jackson Tooke each have netted a goal. Mitch Falkenstern has two assists two lead the team, while Steven L’Esperence and Jose Rodriguez each have an assist.
UK won the only previous meeting between the two teams, a 4-2 win in Lexington in 2011. In the meeting last year, UK was led by a hat trick from Lodge, while Riggs added three assists. Lodge’s hat trick was the seventh in the history of the program and the first for a UK player since Michael Strong in 2006.
