The FIU men's soccer team dropped a 2-1 decision to the Wildcats of Kentucky Friday night at University Park.
Despite outplaying Kentucky and outshooting them 16-6, FIU couldn't finish on several scoring opportunities, and in the end the Wildcats did just enough to escape Miami with a win.
“I think we dominated this game from top to bottom,” said head coach Munga Eketebi. “This is a game we should have won.”
FIU nearly struck early when in the 6th minute Levi Coleman (Broken Arrow, Okla.) sent a low cross to Christian Caporaletti (Miami, Fla.) who one-timed it towards the goal but the shot was wide of the net.
Kentucky got on the board first when in the 12th minute C.J. Tappel scored on a header after a free kick by Masumi Turnbull.
In the 22nd minute, Richard Martinez (Hialeah, Fla.) set up a header for Coleman who nearly tied the score, but Kentucky keeper Dan Williams was there to keep the Golden Panthers off the scoreboard.
Just a minute later Coleman had another attempt that was turned away. The keeper couldn't get a handle on the ball and Juan Guerra (Caracas, Venezuela) controlled the rebound and fired on goal, but Williams was there to just barely deflect the ball over the net.
Caporaletti had yet another opportunity to tie the score, this one in the 27th minute, when Coleman sent a cross in and Caporaletti headed it towards the goal, but once again Williams made the stop.
The Golden Panthers finally equalized in the 32nd minute when Juan Guerra dribbled through the UK defense and fired a shot from the left side to the upper right corner for his fifth goal of the season.
The score would remain tied at one as the first half expired.
In the second half, FIU continued to dominate the match, but couldn't find the back of the net.
Despite FIU controlling the run of play, KU retook the lead in the 61st minute when Brad Frederick fired a long range shot that deflected off an FIU player, and snuck into the goal just past the reach of a leaping Matias Wilson (Weston, Fla.), who made his first start of the season in goal for the Golden Panthers.
The rest of the match told the same story as the first 61 minutes. FIU controlled play, but couldn't finish as the Wildcats held on to down the Golden Panthers.
“I really haven't seen a team in the conference that we cannot beat,” said Eketebi after the match. “That's why it's so important that we get to the conference tournament.”
The loss drops FIU to 2-10-2 (2-4-0 C-USA); while the win improves UK's record to 6-7-2 (4-2-0 C-USA).
The Golden Panthers hit the road this week as they travel to Tulsa, Okla. for a C-USA match against the Golden Hurricane.
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