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CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati men's soccer team fell, 3-1, to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Senior Night Saturday at Gettler Stadium.
The loss drops UC to 8-6-1 overall and 3-3-0 in American Athletic Conference play. Tulsa improves to 8-4-4 on the season and 3-2-1 in league action. The loss allows the Golden Hurricane to jump the Bearcats in the conference standings with Tulsa now with 10 points while UC has nine. Currently, the Bearcats sit in a tie for third place with UConn while the Golden Hurricane sit firmly in second. The Huskies defeated the Bearcats early this month.
Following a prematch ceremony honoring its five seniors -- Pedro Diaz, Nick Frank, Nick Melville, Malik Morgan, and Jonny Williams - UC got off to a great start with sophomore Adam Wilson (Auchterarder, Scotland/Dollar Academy) scoring on a penalty kick in the 19th minute. The Bearcats kept the Golden Hurricane off the scoreboard for the duration of the first half with Diaz (Mason, Ohio/ Mason) turning away a pair of goal attempts.
Armed with a 1-0 advantage, the tide turned for UC early in the second half when UC was called for a debatable foul in the box in the 48th minute which Tulsa converted into an equalizer on a penalty kick. The goal scorer, Tulsa's Ray Saari, was subsequently issued a yellow card for picking up the ball out of the net and taking it out of the box where he and Bearcats redshirt freshman Ryan Melink (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) had an altercation. As a result of the incident, Melink was issued a questionable red card and ejected from the match. Having to play a man down for the duration, UC was placed in a tough position as it searched for a go-ahead goal while also trying to turn away any Tulsa advances.
The Bearcats gave up the eventual match-winning goal on an unfortunate defensive snafu in the 65th minute. The Golden Hurricane added to its lead approximately 20 minutes later with another score. The goal dashed any match-equalizing hopes that UC had as Tulsa escaped with the victory.
// GOAL SCORING SUMMARY
19' - CIN Adam Wilson (PK)
Melink was able to draw a foul in the box which gave free-kick specialist Wilson an opportunity to get the Bearcats on the board first. The sophomore fooled Tulsa's goalkeeper Jake McGuire for the score.
48' - TUL Ray Saari (PK)
UC was called for a foul in the box which gave Tulsa's Saari a penalty-kick opportunity which he converted to tie the match.
65' - TUL Matthew Puig
From the other end of the field, Tulsa's Quinton Duncan sailed the ball into UC's box where apparent miscommunication occurred between Diaz and junior Christian Hay (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day). Hay got a head on the ball but Tulsa's Matthew Puig then took it away and back-kicked it past Diaz who had left his box.
88' - TUL Quinton Duncan (Ray Saari)
The Golden Hurricane added its third score on a back-heel pass from Saari to Duncan who chipped the ball over top of Diaz for the goal.
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats will makeup its match from last week against Eastern Illinois that was postponed due to weather on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 6 p.m. at Gettler Stadium in their final home match of the season. 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.