Oct. 7, 2012
DALLAS — After the Kentucky men’s soccer team posted a strong first half, No. 25 SMU broke open the scoring with a penalty kick goal and added a late tally in a 2-0 win over the Wildcats, on a bitterly cold and windy Saturday night at Westcott Field.
Kentucky (5-6-1, 0-1-1 Conference USA) opened up the game with a dominating first-half performance, taking a scoreless game into halftime. The Wildcats controlled possession and pace of play through the first 64 minutes, before SMU struck for the penalty kick goal in the 65th minute on Tyler Engel’s fifth goal of the year. SMU then used Juan Castillo’s goal in the 75th minute to seal the win.
The Wildcats faced their sixth top-25 opponent to open the first 12 games of the season, as the Mustangs improved on their conference-leading record. SMU is in the midst of a nine-game unbeaten stretch after the win over UK.
UK owned a 7-3 advantage in shots in the first half and a 4-3 margin in corner kicks. All told in the contest, UK finished with a 12-7 lead in shots, and a 7-4 lead in corners.
UK got two shots in the game from senior Matt Lodge, junior Tyler Riggs and freshman Caleb Richardson. Steven Perinovic, Gabriel Conelian, Jacob Kemper, Cameron Wilder, Bryan Celis and Isak Krogstad each fired shots.
UK keeper Jack Van Arsdale saved one shot in the game, facing seven total SMU efforts. SMU (8-2-2, 4-0-0 C-USA) keeper Jaime Ibarra, the reigning league and national defensive player of the week, saved five UK shots in the game.
UK returns to action on Saturday, traveling to face UAB in Birmingham, Ala., with kickoff slated for 8 p.m. ET.
In the 65th minute, SMU got on the board, as the Mustangs made a run down the far side of the 18-yard box. Perinovic made a sliding tackle towards the endline to force the penalty kick. Engel then netted his fifth of the year.
SMU added an insurance tally in the 75th minute. Engel sent a long through ball through traffic. Van Arsdale came out to intercept but the play got behind him with Dylan Asher hustling to try and cover the empty net. Castillo then finished his first goal of the year to lift SMU to a 2-0 lead.
GAME NOTES: UK played its sixth top-25 opponent through its first 12 games … SMU now leads the all-time series, 7-4, including a 5-2 record in games played in Dallas … Senior Matt Lodge extended his career shots record to 174 with a two-shot effort.
