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DALLAS - The University of Cincinnati men's soccer team dropped a hard-fought, 1-0 decision at SMU Sunday night at Westcott Field.
The loss drops UC to 8-5-1 overall and 3-2-0 in American Athletic Conference play. Meanwhile, SMU moves to 6-8-0 on the season and 2-3-0 in league action. The Bearcats currently sit in a tie for second place in the conference with UConn. The Huskies defeated UC earlier this month.
Following a back-and-forth opening 35 minutes, the Bearcats fell behind 1-0 off of a SMU set piece and went into halftime facing a narrow deficit. UC was unable to muster up any legitimate scoring chances until late in the second half when it narrowly missed tying up the match on a couple of occasions. In the 84th minute, freshman Daniel Oginni (Mississauga, Ontario/King's Christian Collegiate) crossed the ball from the far side of the box to the near side where junior Jack Clark (Mason, Ohio/Mason) just missed heading the ball into the top of the net for the score but instead bounced it off the crossbar. Still on the attack a couple of minutes later in the 87th minute, redshirt freshman Ryan Melink (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) found the ball in a frenzy in the box and tried to punch it in from in front of the net but was denied by the SMU goalkeeper. After surviving the two scares, the Mustangs kept the ball away from the Bearcats in the final two minutes to hang on for the victory.
// GOAL SCORING SUMMARY
35' - SMU Jordan Cano (Bryce Clark)
SMU scored the only goal of the match when Clark sent a corner kick into the box from the near side which Cano challenged for and headed home for his second goal of the season.
// MATCH NOTES
- Oginni was issued a red card in the 87th minute. It is the first red card issued against the Bearcats this season.
- Redshirt junior goalkeeper Pedro Diaz (Mason, Ohio/Mason) had two saves on the night in 90 minutes of play.
// COMMENTS FROM COACH DAYES
"I'm proud of the guys' effort tonight," said head coach Hylton Dayes. "It's a disappointing way to lose as we did not defend their corner kick well which allowed a open header which was the difference in the match. We had two good chances late in the game, one went off the crossbar and the second was a clear foul in the box that was not called. We now have a week to get ready for Tulsa on Senior Night."
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats will be back at Gettler Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. when they welcome the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The match is planned to be Senior Day recognizing UC's five seniors. Fans will have the opportunity to get autographs of the Bearcats following the match as part of Signature Saturday. Concession specials will include $1 hot chocolate. Admission will complimentary, as it is all season long, as part of the Experience UC initiative. Fans unable to attend the match can stream it through BearcatsTV. A subscription is required to watch.