No. 15 Kentucky Falls 2-0 at No. 23 Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The No. 13 Kentucky men’s soccer team dropped its first match of the year, 2-0 at Louisville on Tuesday night at Lynn Stadium. It was the first loss of the season for the Wildcats, who fell to 2-1-0 on the season. Louisville improved to 3-1-0. 

The quote

“Definitely not our best day at the office,” UK head coach Johan Cedergren said. “It just seemed the guys were a little hesitant and right before they scored I felt like we were settling in. It looked like we were going to be able to play. This is the third game in a row where we made mistakes that are just unacceptable at any level.

“In the end it was hopefully a humbling, learning experience to play a good team like Louisville. They did play really well, I thought. Now for us we just have to get ready for our next opponent. We are a good team, we just have to play a little tougher and be a little sharper.” 

The goals

After both teams traded tame forays forward in the opening stages, Louisville took the lead midway through the first half. Tate Schmidt notched his third goal of the season in the 26th minute to give UL the 1-0 lead. 

Schmidt possessed the ball 25 yards from goal after a UK failed clearance and fired a shot to the far post, which off hit the post before being deflected in.

Just two minutes later in the 28th minute, the Cards extended their lead as Schmidt assisted Daniel Johnson’s first goal of the season. Schmidt played a centering ball to the top of the box where Johnson smashed a right-footed effort into the side-right netting for the 2-0 lead. 

UK struggled to get on the ball the rest of the half, and by comparison the second half was a tame affair with Louisville getting the better chance, but UK finding its way into Louisville’s area more and more.

In the 81st minute, UK got a chance that was led by Napo Matsoso, who sent a ball into the attacking third intended for Andrew McKelvey and Stefan Stojkovic in the box that tested the Louisville keeper, but was collected before it could reach them for the connection. 

Kentucky returns home to the Bell Soccer Complex on Saturday night against former Conference USA foe, Memphis. The match will kick off at 7 p.m. ET and be shown live on the SEC Network+, the WatchESPN app and ESPN3.