Asher leads Men’s soccer to C-USA win

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By Tyler Spanyer | @KernelSpanyer

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Spurred by three goals from junior defender Dylan Asher, the Cats cruised past Florida International 5-1 to improve to 3-1-1 in Conference USA.

The three goals marked the eighth hat trick in UK soccer history, putting the Cats in a tie for second in the conference standings.

“This was a game I was really worried about coming in, but our guys performed and they did fantastic. We are just where we want to be with three games to go,” said UK head coach Johan Cedergren. “Dylan is just a fantastic player. He can play anywhere on the field, and his performance in the last two games has showed that.”

The Cats scored early as Asher netted his first goal just three minutes into the match. After 20 minutes of back and forth play, the Cats got a penalty kick stemming from a handball by a FIU defender. Senior midfielder Charles Pettys netted his sixth goal of the season, as he smashed the penalty kick into the bottom corner.

UK only faced two goal scoring chances, one a break away from sophomore standout Quentin Albrecht and another on a close header that was called offside.

Following Pettys goal, the game became very physical and led to a number of cards. FIU sophomore forward Colby Burdette received two yellow cards in the span of just six minutes, which forced the Panther to play with just 10 men for the remainder of the match.

With five minutes to go before halftime, UK got another goal from Asher who knocked in a point-blank volley following the cross by freshman defender/midfielder Dylan Murphy.

The second half was more of the same, as Asher netted his third goal of the game 12 minutes into the second half.

“Gabby (Conelian) got down the wing, I called for it and just did a little diving header,” Asher said.

The Cats got a goal from sophomore defender/midfielder Dustin Scibilia off of a cross from senior midfielder Gabriel Conelian, his second assist of the match.

The Panthers got on the board on a free kick by senior Lucas Di Croce. Di Croce curled the ball into the top corner after a careless foul by a UK defender.

UK will next take to the field Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., as they face off with the Golden Hurricanes, who they are looking to for its fourth straight conference win.