No. 22 Dartmouth and No. 17 Kentucky Play to 1-1 Draw

Friday, September 2

Lexington, Ky.

7:30 PM

Dartmouth College

Kentucky

No. 22 Dartmouth and No. 17 Kentucky Play to 1-1 Draw

9/2/2016 10:11:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 22 Dartmouth men's soccer team played to a 1-1, two overtime draw with No. 17 Kentucky to open the 2016 season in Kentucky on Friday night.

The Big Green are 0-0-1 on the year, and the Wildcats are 2-0-1.

It took a full 90 minutes and then another 20 minutes, but a victor could not be found in Lexington tonight, as both team's battled hard to break the 1-1 stalemate.

“This was a great college soccer game,” Dartmouth head coach Chad Riley said. “It completely had the feel of an NCAA game. Kentucky is a very good team and they are going to have a very good year.”

In the first half, the Big Green were outshot 6-4, but the two squads each had two shots on goal apiece. With the score tied 0-0 and just 10 seconds to play in the first, junior defenseman Wyatt Omsberg was awarded a penalty shot.

Omsberg charged toward the ball and went to his left as the Wildcats' goalkeeper went to the right to make the save, but the ball slipped past the goalie's finger tips for the score.

After the halftime break, Kentucky netted the equalizer when Connor Probert beat Dartmouth's net minder, James Hickok to the near post after receiving a pass from Napo Matsoso in the 61st minute. As the second half went on, the game got more physical as each side battled to get the all-important next tally.

In the 76th minute, the Wildcats unleashed a flurry of shots, but they were turned away by Hickok and blocked by a couple of Big Green defenders.

After neither team found the back of the net in regulation, the contest went into its first 10-minute overtime, where each squad had chances to win the game in sudden death, but neither team could get the golden goal.

In the final 10-minute overtime, neither team relented its attack on the opposing goal as Kentucky took two shots, while Dartmouth took three, but the two sides had to settle for the 1-1 draw.

“Overall we were solid,” Riley said. “We obviously still have lots of work to work on, but given where we are in our season, I am proud of our squad. The trick is now to continue to be hungry for improvement. It's not where you start, but how much you grow. We competed and I'm always proud when we compete.”