Men’s soccer stays undefeated in C-USA

By Brendan Hill

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UK men’s soccer got back on track, winning 1-0 over South Carolina in a hard fought game.

This was goalkeeper Callum Irving’s 23rd career shutout making him UK’s all-time leader in clean sheets.

“It feels nice, but it’s a whole team effort not just me,” Irving said.

This was his fifth shutout in seven games, one of the reasons the Cats were able to go on a five game win streak during the past month.

Jordan Wilson scored the only goal of the game in the 31st minute on an assist by Kristoffer Tollefsen. It was Wilsons’ first goal of the year.

“It was a great delivery by Tollefsen and I just got a good feel on it,” Wilson said. “Napo (Matsoso) had a really good game off the ball, which people watching don’t get to see. He puts in a lot of work off the ball and is a real team player.”

The offense did a good job attacking and getting opportunities in the first half, but in the second half they stayed back, playing more defensive to protect the lead. This showed when South Carolina doubled their shots on goal, but the defense stepped up to the challenge and did not all0w a goal.

“We knew they were going to come out flying in the second half, so we wanted to put defense first,” Irving said.

This win put the team back on track after the hard fought loss on Wednesday to Ohio State. UK came out with a fire, wanting to stay undefeated in conference play and gain sole position of first place. They achieved that goal with the win over South Carolina, making the Cats the only team undefeated in C-USA.

UK plays another C-USA opponent in Old Dominion next Saturday and will try to stay undefeated in the conference.