Louisville soccer knocks off UK 2-0 at home

By Mills Armbruster

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The rivalry has been renewed.

The UK men’s soccer team (3-5-1) took on the Louisville Cardinals (5-0-2) at the UK Soccer complex Wednesday night. 2,107 fans showed up to watch the Cats and Cards duel it out under the complex lights.

The Cardinals, No. 8 in the nation according to Soccer Times, arrived ready to play as they took control of the game early.

Louisville became familiar with the Cats’ side of the field as the team took ten shots, two on target, before the half.

Freshman goalkeeper Tyler Beadle had a save to keep the score of the first half at 1-0, Louisville leading.

Louisville freshman midfielder Dylan Mares scored off of a crossbar deflection from teammate Nick DeLeon in the sixteenth minute of play.

“They looked like a more experienced team than us,” UK head coach Ian Collins said. “We just had to learn from it and come back after the goal.”

Defense was an issue for the Cats as they found themselves often defending their goal. The second half of play began with a Cardinal goal a minute and a half into play. Junior defender Austin Berry headed a shot past Beadle off a corner kick from junior Kenney Walker as UL took the lead 2-0.

“We came out from the half on our heels,” Beadle said. “We just didn’t come out strong enough.”

UK’s offense made it into UofL’s territory multiple times but couldn’t capitalize with a score. Louisville’s defense remained dominant as UK was only allowed five shots throughout the game, only one on target.

“We have too many young guys out there. Both strikers are freshman,” Collins said. “We never got going at all. We had flurries in the second half but we never got into any type of rhythm.”

The Cats snuck by as three of Louisville’s shots were rejected off of the posts of the goal.

“Louisville is a good team,” Beadle said. “Their strikers are at the top of their game. Honestly, we got lucky a few times when their shots went off the posts.”

Cats’ defenders Dylan Asher, David Harrison and Brad Walker played every minute of the game as they limited UofL to 5 shots in the second half. Beadle recorded 2 saves in the second half and 3 for the game.

“We came out and played a little better in the second half,” Beadle said. “We were more energized and confident in the defense.”

UK enters conference play Oct. 6 as they will travel to Conference USA rival Marshall University (8-2-2).

“We got caught up in the rivalry and the crowd. It’s something to learn from,” Collins said. “This was one game. We won’t panic. We’ve been competitive the whole year. We have a week off which gives us time to get better and make progress.”