LEXINGTON, Ky. – Goalkeeper
Sean Molony did his part to keep Eastern Illinois men's soccer in the game, finishing with nine saves, but Kentucky scored the lone goal of the game in the first half to defeat the Panthers, 1-0, in the season opener for both teams Friday evening.
The Wildcats' Tyler Riggs beat Molony in a one-v-one opportunity in the 31st minute after Jordan Rose setup the scoring chance. It was the freshman's first goal in his collegiate debut. Earlier this week, Riggs was named of the 100 Freshmen to Watch nationally by CollegeSoccerNews.com.
Molony made five saves in the first half and four more in the final 45 minutes. All three EIU shots on goal came in the second half.
Eastern's best chance to score came in the 54th minute following an
Alex Harrison corner kick.
Darby Kehoe gained possession and got a shot off but a UK player knocked the ball down at the goal line for a team save. The Panthers had two more corner kick opportunities in the game's final seven minutes but were unable to capitalize.
“The stats can be misleading at times; it was really three legitimate chances to one,” EIU head coach
Adam Howarth said. “A lot of [Molony's] saves were from distance. He did have three top-class saves but wasn't able to get the one they scored on. Our opportunity, Darby hit it after a corner and it got stuck on a defender's legs and he cleared it out. They took us out of our game with their physicality and combativeness. And we may have had a bit of a target on our backs considering the last time we played them (an EIU overtime win in 2007. I still have a lot of confidence in these guys. We'll live to fight another day and get a result on Sunday (vs. UNC Asheville).”
The Panthers dropped their season opener in 1-0 fashion for the first time since 2006 and only the second time in the program's Missouri Valley Conference era (1996-2010).
Eastern remains in Lexington to take on UNC Asheville at 11 a.m. (CDT) Sunday on day two of the UK Invitational.
