[SLIDESHOW] Men’s soccer wins 2-0 on Senior Day

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By Clark Brooks

The UK men’s soccer team defeated High Point University 2-0 at the UK Soccer Complex on Sunday’s Senior Day.

The game was the Cats’ last regular season match in 2009 before the Conference USA Tournament. The Cats clinched a spot in the tournament  after beating Southern Methodist University on Wednesday.

UK started the game energetically and forced chances early, but High Point soon responded with some fire of their own. Kendall Lawson just missed a header attempt in the ninth minute shortly followed by Scott Rojo’s 20-yard try that was just wide of the goal.

“We prepared for this game exactly the same way we did for SMU earlier this week and didn’t want to take this game lightly,” UK head coach Ian Collins said. “Also, we wanted to keep the winning streak alive going into the Conference USA Tournament.”

UK kept putting pressure on the High Point defense firing three shots in the 28th minute, two of which by freshman midfielder Cameron Wilder.

The Cats finally finished a chance on a fast break attempt when Lodge’s try was blocked and reserve Josh Albers rebounded the ball in traffic and shot the ball low and under the radar of High Point goalie Michael Chesler right inside the post.  The goal was Albers’ first of the season.

“We scored a good first goal today,” Collins said. “Come tournament time it’s always crucial to get that first goal of the game.”

The Cats added another goal in the 70th minute off a corner kick when Chad Haggerty connected with Rice who finished the try, scoring his second goal of the year.

“Finishing chances has been our problem all year,” Collins said. “If we want to take the conference, we need to keep doing the little things right and put away our chances.”

High Point couldn’t muster enough offense in the remainder of the game to be effective and were shutout, giving UK’s Williams his seventh of the year.

UK improved to 13-5-0 (5-3-0 C-USA) on the year and is riding a five-game winning streak into the C-USA Tournament. Cats Tim Crone, George Davis IV, Chad Hagerty, Jason Griffiths, Tim Muessig, Marco dos Santos, Barry Rice and Dan Williams were celebrated on Senior Day during the victory.

“This is a fantastic group of seniors,” Collins said. “They have won a lot of games in their career and I have a lot of admiration for them. They know how to handle themselves both on and off the field. I’m glad we’ll send them out right.”