#2 Virginia Men's Soccer Rallies To Defeat #25 Kentucky, 3-2
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Aug. 30, 2002
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The #2 University of Virginia men’s soccer team began play in the 2002 Virginia Soccer Classic by hosting the #25 Kentucky Wildcats in game two of the tournament in the season-opener for both teams. Virginia posted a dramatic 3-2 come-from-behind victory thanks in part to two goals by Alecko Eskandarian (Montvale, N.J./Bergen Catholic), including the game-winning goal with just 1:22 to play, to lift the Cavaliers to their first win of the season. Maryland defeated Rhode Island by the score of 8-0 in the first contest of the event.
UVa scored the first goal of the game when Jonathan Cole (Annapolis, Md./McDonogh) guided a free kick following a Wildcat foul to Ryan Gibbs (West Chester, Pa./East). Gibbs collected the ball and directed a pass to Ryan Kelly (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) near the center part of the box. Kelly fielded Gibbs’ pass and rifled a shot into the goal at the 14:30 mark to give Virginia a 1-0 lead. Kentucky tied the game at 1-1 when Jani Modig sent a corner kick into the box where Monty Frazier headed the ball into the goal with just :50 seconds remaining in the first half at the 44:10 mark. The teams would head into the locker rooms at halftime tied at 1-1.
The Wildcats took their only lead at the 47:49 mark when they scored an early second-half goal after Nathan Fleetwood sent a crossing pass across the box to teammate Chris McDaniel, who connected on a 13-yard shot in the flat to give UK a 2-1 advantage just 2:49 into the half. Kentucky held onto its one-goal lead for nearly 13 minutes before Eskandarian provided the heroics. At the 61:10 mark, Eskandarian tied the game at 2-2 when Kenny Arena (Fairfax, Va./Oakton) played a ball to him on a cross before he sent a shot off of the far post and into the Wildcats goal for the game-tying score. With just 1:22 remaining and the game appearing as though it was headed for overtime, Eskandarian put UVa on top for good and scored the game-winning goal at the 88:38 mark when Matt Oliver (Waldorf, Md./Dematha Catholic) sent a cross that Eskandarian gathered before firing a one-timer into the top corner of UK’s goal, lifting UVa to a 3-2 comeback victory.
The Cavaliers’ David Comfort (Richmond, Va./Monacan) made two saves in goal in the win, while the Wildcats’ Greg Raber gathered three saves in the loss between the pipes.
With the victory, Virginia’s record improves to 1-0-0 overall, while the loss drops Kentucky’s record to 0-1-0 on the season. UVa is now 1-0-0 in the all-time series with Kentucky.
The Cavaliers will return to action on Sunday, September 1st when UVa faces Rhode Island at 2:30 p.m. in the final match of the 2002 Virginia Soccer Classic. Maryland and Kentucky will face each other in the third game of the tournament at 12:00 noon on Sunday.
Scoring 1 2 F#25 Kentucky 1 1 2#2 Virginia 1 2 3
Goals: UVa - Kelly (Cole, Gibbs) @ 14:30, Eskandarian (Arena) @ 61:10,Eskandarian (Oliver) @ 88:38.UK - Frazier (Modig) @ 44:10, McDaniel (Fleetwood) @ 47:49.Shots: UVa 17, UK 6.Corner Kicks: UVa 4, UK 2.Saves: UK 3, UVa 2.Fouls: UK 27, UVa 20.Offsides: UVa 2, UK 0.Yellow Cards: UK 5 - Frazier, Pearse, Peters, Stephenson, Modig.UVa 3 - Kelly, Arena, LeBlanc.Red Cards: UVa 1 - LeBlanc. UK 1 - Frazier.Attendance: 2,123.