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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The University of Cincinnati men's soccer team played the Northern Kentucky Norse to a 0-0 double-overtime draw on Wednesday evening at the NKU Soccer Stadium.
The draw is UC's first of the season and brings its unbeaten streak to five matches. The Bearcats last had a losing result in its last match at NKU Soccer Stadium against Xavier on Sept. 9 in a 4-2 defeat.
Both teams were very defensive-minded in the first half. UC (5-3-1, 1-0-0 The American) attempted four shots in the opening 45 minutes, while NKU (0-8-2, 0-3-0 Horizon) tried seven shots including one on goal. The Bearcats upped the tempo in the second with aggressive play resulting in corner kicks. One of UC's better chances at scoring came in the 53rd minute when redshirt freshman Ryan Melink (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) had a header chance that was saved by NKU's goalkeeper. The Bearcats took multiple shots thereafter but none were really threats to score. After the two teams stayed scoreless through regulation, redshirt junior Pedro Diaz (Mason, Ohio/Mason) had an incredible diving save in the 97th minute to keep the Bearcats' hopes alive. The final 10 minutes went on without much advancement from either squad as the match finished with a 0-0 draw.
// SCORING OPPORTUNTIES
- In a tightly-defended opening 20 minutes of the match, freshman Elliott Williams (London, England) tried to sneak one over top of the goalie from near midfield after the goalie came out beyond his box but the shot went high.
- Nearing the 30-minute mark, the Bearcats went on the attack resulting in a pair of corner kicks. Freshman David Sanz (Santander, Spain/IE La Marina) had a shot from outside of the box that was blocked following the corner.
- On a free kick from the far right flank, sophomore Adam Wilson (Auchterarder, Scotland/Dollar Academy) sized up a shot that sailed high and wide.
- UC had arguably its best shot at scoring of the first half in the 41st minute when Sanz blasted a shot from just outside the middle of the box that went wide left.
- The Bearcats were the aggressors to begin the second half with four corner kicks in the opening 20 minutes. Melink had UC's first shot on goal of the night on a header that was saved off of a service into the box in the 53rd
- Diaz seemingly saved a result for UC when he dove to his right and snatched a Norse shot attempt with what appeared to be one arm in the 97th minute which kept the score even at nil.
// MATCH NOTES
- UC is unbeaten in its last five matches. The Bearcats last lost on Sept. 9 at the NKU Soccer Stadium against Xavier in a 4-2 decision.
- The all-time series between the two teams moves to 5-1-3 in favor of the Bearcats and 2-1-2 in matches played in Highland Heights. UC is unbeaten in its last eight versus NKU.
- Diaz recorded his fifth clean sheet of the season and his fourth in his last five matches. The redshirt junior had five saves on the night.
// COMMENTS FROM COACH DAYES
"I thought we lacked energy in the first half," said Dayes. "Our movement was not great and we really did not create many chances. We made a few adjustments at halftime and I thought we played much better. Our movement and passing were better but we lacked quality in the final third including our finishing. It's always a difficult match against NKU. Credit them for battling throughout regulation and the overtime periods."
"I also thought Pedro Diaz was good defensively tonight. He came up with key saves that kept us in the game. We probably did not play to our high standards defensively but we were still able to keep the clean sheet."
"We have to put this match behind is and start preparing for a quality USF team. The first order of business is the recovery process. Many of our guys played 110 minutes tonight so we will address that tonight and tomorrow. With this being the conference home opener, our guys will be motivated to play. USF is a very athletic team with very dangerous attacking players. We will need to play better to get a result but we will be ready."
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats will host their first home American Athletic Conference match of the season on Saturday, Oct. 1, when they welcome USF at 3 p.m. inside Gettler Stadium. Former UC great and current FC Cincinnati player Omar Cummings will make a guest appearance as color analyst for the match on BearcatsTV. In addition, due to the football game at 7 p.m., parking for $5 will only be available until 2:30 p.m. at Calhoun Garage. After 2:30, parking will be in football mode for $20.