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Box Score CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati men's soccer team put on a solid performance in a 2-0 loss to local United Soccer League (USL) club FC Cincinnati in front of 1,107 fans on Saturday night at Gettler Stadium.
UC fell to 1-1-0 on the spring season, while FCC picked up its first win of the preseason and are 1-2-2 overall.
The match was scoreless before FCC's Aodhan Quinn sent a free kick into the box where Djiby Fall took the ball out of the air and finished past UC goalkeeper Pearce Skinner (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) for the first score of the match in the 29th minute. The Bearcats were able to keep the Blue & Gold off the scoreboard for the remainder of the first half but surrendered an insurance goal midway through the second when Andrew Wiedeman collected a deflected save and snuck it into the net for a goal in the 66th minute.
UC had opportunities to score throughout the match but just couldn't quite convert. The Bearcats were the aggressors early when junior Jack Clark (Mason, Ohio/Mason) fired a shot from the near side of the box that FCC goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt saved just 40 seconds in. At the eight minute mark, freshman David Sanz (Santander, Spain/IE La Marina) sent UC's first of three corner kicks of the match into the box where freshman Patrick Nielsen (Copenhagen, Denmark/Rungsted Gymnasium) challenged for the ball and had a header attempt saved. Skinner continued his strong play between the pipes throughout the first half with five saves.
FCC was goal hunting early in the second with two shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes before it added an insurance goal from Wiedeman in the 66th minute. UC prevented FCC from playing add-on in the 79th minute when a Wiedeman penalty kick bounced off the far post. The Bearcats nearly added a goal in the 90th minute when Sanz sailed a corner kick into the box where redshirt freshman Elias Helbig (Denver, Colo./East/Creighton) corralled the loose ball and fired a shot at the net which was saved.
In total, UC tallied five shots, including four on goal, and three corner kicks. Skinner turned in a solid goalkeeping performance with eight saves on the night against the professional club.
// COACH DAYES ON THE BEARCATS
"It was a great experience playing against a pro team," said head coach Hylton Dayes. "It challenged our guys and took them out of their comfort zone. The speed of play, technical abilities of the players, along with their experience, were a level up from college soccer."
"I was pleased with how we started the game. I thought the first 15 minutes we defended well, had decent possession and created a few opportunities on counter attacks. I think we worked hard the entire match and looked to build the game from the back even in difficult moments."
"I felt we could have defended a little better on restarts and needed to win a few more second balls in the middle period of the game. We also needed to be a little better in possession when FCC pressed us."
"The crowd was fantastic! The atmosphere was great and I think our players enjoyed playing in front of such an energetic crowd. We really would like to thank FCC for giving us an opportunity to play this game at Gettler Stadium. The Cincinnati soccer community was the winner tonight."
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats' spring season will continue on Saturday, March 25 in its annual alumni match at Gettler Stadium at 6 p.m.