Cincinnati Loses at Kentucky in NCAA Men's Soccer

Josh Gardner

The University of Cincinnati’s record breaking season ended in a 0-0 tie against the University of Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. UK advanced on penalty kicks.

After playing 110 minutes of scoreless soccer, which team would advance to the second round relied on penalty kicks. In the NCAA tournament, five players from each team are chosen to face the goalie one-on-one for a penalty kick. The team with the most made PK’s will advance to the next round.

Kentucky’s Olli Lehtimaki was the first to take a penalty kick, shooting into the left side of the goal. John Adams was there to make the save. Cincinnati’s Wiremu Patrick (Wellington, New Zealand/Wellington College) was next, shooting into the far right corner of the goal, but Andy Gruenebaum dove, punching the ball into the post. It richached off, and Gruenebaum gathered it to keep the advantage even.

Round two of the penalty kicks saw two goals made. The first was by Kentucky’s Chris Austin, when he shot the ball deep into the left corner of the net. Cincinnati answered when Josh Gardner sent a shot just under the cross bar and into the left side. The advantage remained even.

Kentucky’s Jamal Shteiwi, a Cincinnati native, made his shot in round three after faking to the right and shooting to the left. Cincinnati’s Tim Brown (Wellington, New Zealand/Victoria University) blasted a shot at the goal, but Gruenebaum was there for another diving save. UK now had the advantage, 2-1.

Continuing the UK momentum, Nathan Li made his shot even though Adams was able to get a piece of it. UK was now up 3-1, forcing Cincinnati to make their next shot. Brandon Dobbs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) was up for the challenge, sending a bullet into the bottom right corner of the goal.

UK still had a 3-2 advantage. Joey Gaworecki ended the shootout on the next shot when he blasted the ball to the left side of the goal. Adams dove, but the force of the shot sent the ball through his hands and into the net, advancing UK to the second round.

Adams was still credited with the shutout, and ends his career at UC as the best goalie in the 30 year history of the men’s soccer team. This season he recorded a 0.72 goals against average. The previous record, set by Jay Schneider in 1989 was 0.85. Adams also broke Schneider’s career average, posting a 0.83 goals against average for his four years, allowing only 29 goals in 3,142 minutes of play.

“I am proud of my team,” head coach Hylton Dayes said. “I felt like tonight they gave us everything they had. It’s sad that somebody has to walk away from this game a loser but I feel very satisfied with the way my team played and the way we competed. This is what it is all about – putting yourself on the line. You don’t win all the time, but we competed, and I appreciate that.”

Cincinnati dominated the game, outshooting UK 9-5 with more than half of its shots on goal. The Bearcat’s nearly scored on the first play of the game with Brown won the ball and passed it to Justin Lewis (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) who forced Grunenebaum to make a diving save. UC’s best chance in the second half came when Garnder blasted a shot from 18 yards out in the 27th minute. Gruenebaum knocked it down, but was unable to gather the rebound. Lewis nearly beat a UK defender to the ball, but the Wildcat cleared it over the goal line. Following two corner kicks, UK was able to send the ball downfield.

Kentucky will play No. 8 seed Indiana in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday in Bloomington, Ind. at 7 P.M.