No. 18 Kentucky Gets Past Falcons, 1-0, in Overtime

Tuesday, October 18

Lexington, KY

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

8-4-2

#18 Kentucky

9-3-2

OT 2

Bowling Green

Kentucky

Anthony Mwembia made four saves in the Kentucky match (photo courtesy UK Athletics)

October 18, 2016 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Wildcats score on a header off of a 98th-minute corner kick

By: LEXINGTON, Ky. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The University of Kentucky scored on a header in the 98th minute, posting an overtime victory over the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team Tuesday night (Oct. 18). The non-conference match was held at The Bell.

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Kaelon Fox scored the winner for the Wildcats off of a corner kick by Charlie Reymann, giving the nationally-ranked hosts the win. UK is ranked in all four national polls, and the Wildcats are 14th in the latest RPI.

The final statistics, somewhat misleading, showed the home team with 25 total shots to the Falcons' five. However, the BG defense allowed just six of those 25 UK shots to be placed on target. BGSU freshman goalkeeper Anthony Mwembia made four saves, while senior defender Jacob Roth cleared a blooper off of the goal line.

The Wildcats possessed the ball for more of the 97-plus minutes than the Falcons, but BG had a number of dangerous forays into the UK end of the field that did not result in shots.

In the early moments of the match, a crossing ball by senior Pat Flynn sailed just over freshman Chris Brennan's head in the box. Then, after a UK foul, Roth quickly took a long free kick to an onrushing Brennan, but his right-side cross was knocked out of the penalty area. Both of those chances came in the first two minutes of the match.

Redshirt sophomore Bismark Agyeman worked hard to win the ball on the left side of the pitch and take it toward the end line. Agyeman won a corner kick, but the ensuing kick was punched away by UK 'keeper Stuart Ford, and the Falcons were whistled for an offside call when the ball was played back into the area.

Mwembia made several nifty plays as the half wore on. He went to the ground to stop Grant Mook's shot from 15 yards out in the 10th minute. Then, J.J. Williams got his foot on a teammate's long diagonal ball in an attempt to deflect it over Mwemia's head, but the Toulouse, France, native was able to grab the ball out of the air.

A low cross somehow found its way to Napo Matsoso in the center of the box, and UK's leading scorer got a shot off, but it was smothered by a BG defender, and Mwembia corralled it.

Each team had several more chances over the remaining 10 minutes of the half, but neither side could put a ball past Mwembia or Ford. Sullivan got his head on a cross by junior Brad Macomber, but Ford plucked it out of the air. UK was able to string together several deft passes, but Stefan Stojkovic's shot from 18 yards away sailed high.

Another UK shot from 20 yards out rolled wide of the far post, and at the other end, Ford went high into the air to catch Roth's long throw-in. In the final minute of the period, Brennan played a through ball in the direction of Sullivan, but Ford was able to beat the Falcon striker to the ball by a millisecond.

The first-half statistics showed the Wildcats with an 11-0 advantage in shot attempts, but BG threatened in the early moments of the second period. Roth put a long ball on the foot of Agyeman, but as Agyeman worked his way into the penalty area, a foul was called on the Falcons. BG got the ball right back, and Roth found sophomore Tate Robertson on the left side, but Robertson's cross skipped through the box and past a teammate near the far post.

In the 50th minute, Brennan got hit head on another long ball by Roth, and slid a pass to Agyeman. The redshirt soph made several moves to elude his would-be defender along the end line, and he played a pass back to Brennan. But, Brennan's shot was deflected wide of the nar post by a defender, and the 'Cats were able to deal with the ensuing corner kick. Soon after, though, Roth got the ball back, but his diagonal ball was headed wide by junior Alexis Souahy.

The Wildcats had several chances as the half reached the midway point, but a header by Jordan Wilson sailed high, and after Mwembia went to the ground after punching a ball away, Noah Hutchins blooped a shot over the crowd of fallen players and toward the far post. But, Roth was there to knock the soft shot out of danger.

The Falcons mounted a counterattack, but Flynn's right-side cross was just a little too high for the leaping Brennan. Several minutes later, sophomore Vincent Giannini's pass toward Agyeman was slightly out of his reach, and Ford got to the ball first.

With just over 15 minutes left in regulation, the Falcons had a lengthy string of possession, with 10 successive passes. But, Robertson's cross was headed away by a UK defender near the far post. Sophomore Dominic Grida stole the ball right back for the Brown and Orange, and quickly fired a shot from distance, but his effort went wide of the right post.

Again, each team had several more chances as time wound down, but the 'keepers and their respective defenses hung tough. Mwembia stopped a turnaround shot by Hutchins with 30 seconds to go, a last-second desperation shot by Sam Stockton was blocked, and the scoreless match went to overtime.

Two minutes into the OT period, Sullivan played a pass ahead to Flynn, who fired a ball that was blocked. Brennan and a UK defender battled for the ball, and it went to Agyeman, who fired it into the back of the net, but the whistle had blown seconds before, and the Wildcats had a free kick.

Agyeman made several nifty moves on the left side of the box two minutes later, but his low cross was blocked. The ball caromed out to Roth, who played a ball back into the danger zone. Brennan got his head on the cross, but his effort went just wide.

The Wildcats came close to ending the match in the 95th minute, but a shot by Williams glanced off the top of the crossbar. But, three minutes later, the hosts were awarded a corner, and that set piece led to the winning goal.

The Falcons now prepare for another road match this weekend, heading to DeKalb for a Saturday (Oct. 22) meeting with Northern Illinois University. BG then concludes a three-match road swing at Fort Wayne next Tuesday (Oct. 25), before ending the regular season with home contests vs. Akron (Oct. 29) and Buffalo (Nov. 5).