Aug. 31, 2014
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Two second-half goals, from Kristopher Tollefsen and Ryan Creel respectively, gave the Kentucky men’s soccer team (1-1-0) its first win of the season over Belmont (0-2-0) on Sunday evening to open the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex in ideal fashion.
Tollefsen found the back of the net for the first time of his career on the hour mark. The goal off a Charlie Reymann corner kick was deflected out to the top of the box, where Tollefson’s left-footed shot was deflected into the goal mouth after nutmegging the goalie.
Kentucky would score again to seal the result on 73 minutes as Reymann played a ball from the top of the box to Sam Miller along the left side. Miller’s square cross found Creel at the right far post, and the sophomore midfielder’s shot found the opposite side netting.
Reymann turned in a man of the match-worthy performance as his corner led to the first goal, while he assisted the second.
“It feels really, really good,” head coach Johan Cedergren said. “Like I said earlier today, to have the wonderful facility that we have and all the stuff that’s in it, for us it puts a little pressure. You don’t want to be the ugly stepchild, right? The women’s program is doing fantastic and I think that we have a lot of very good players and we have a lot of talent.
“We’re a little young still so we’re finding out exactly what’s needed to win games in college soccer. But we want to win. I think that with the guys that we have we can get a fair amount of wins this year. I just think that with all the people here, opening weekend, you want to put on a good show. And I thought that the guys were really, really good today. They were brave on the ball. Sometimes when you’re young, you don’t want to make any mistakes and you pass it on. I thought there were several times today when some of the younger guys, they did really, really well. It feels good to get a win on opening day.”
The win brought UK back to .500 after dropping the regular season opener on Friday at Wright State.
The Wildcats back line was untroubled for most of the match as UK turned in a dominant performance in front of an eager crowd. Both the UK women’s and men’s team won comfortably as part of the Bell Soccer Complex’s Grand Opening.
The Wildcats outshot the Bruins a staggering 24-4, and hit the target 8 times.
Preseason All-Conference USA goalkeeper Callum Irving saved two shots, with a diving stop in the late-going to preserve the clean sheet.
Irving’s shutout was the eight of his career, moving him into eighth in UK history in terms of clean sheets.
The Wildcats will travel to South Bend, Indiana to face the last two National Champions, Indiana and Notre Dame, next weekend.
