Lipscomb holds off late surge from Kentucky, upset Wildcats 2-1
The Lipscomb Bisons (3-4-1) defeated the Kentucky Wildcats (0-5-2) 2-1 at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex on Tuesday.
The first day of autumn not only brought cooler weather, but an intense and rugged matchup between the Wildcats and the Bisons. The teams totaled 21 fouls, three yellow cards and 28 shots in a game where both fouls and shots were dominated by Kentucky.
No one team dominated possession in the first 15 minutes, and nothing stood out about this out-of-conference clash. That was until the 18th minute, when freshman defender Kylian Karsenty went airborne to draw a yellow card on the far left side, which led to a set piece goal off the foot of junior defender Yonis Kireh to break the tie in the first half.
After that goal, it seemed as if the energy was stuck in favor of Lipscomb for the rest of the first half. From the aggressive, yet under control slide tackles, to taking away every push that Kentucky attempted to generate.
Karsenty found a way to impact the game once again in the 23rd minute. A deep pass to freshman forward James Sasere was then set up to redshirt sophomore midfielder Luke Hanlon, who buried a left-footed missile in the bottom right corner to extend the Lipscomb lead to 2 lead heading into the break.
“Yeah, I was just hoping James [Sasere] sent me, and he laid me off a beautiful ball and I was able to capitalize on it,” said Hanlon, who scored his first career goal against the Wildcats, “Yeah, it’s crazy, really. Ecstatic. You know, teammates put me in a great position to make a play, and I capitalize[d] on it.”
The Bisons first half shutout was credit to a stellar first 45 from redshirt junior goalkeeper Alex Kara, the reigning ASUN goalkeeper of the week, who tallied five saves in the half and six total for the game.
Kentucky didn’t lay down by any means as the 59th minute came around, and junior forward Michael Lee made it a one goal game with his right foot, moments after being denied on his previous attempt.
The second half did not see much offense for the Bisons, but what it did see was its back line standing up tremendously, and Kara picking up where he left off. Although the Wildcats produced 13 shots in the second frame, the Bisons defense held strong and pulled out a 2-1 victory.
“[Kentucky’s] just open in transition, and then they’ve been struggling on set pieces, and I thought we did a pretty good job of taking advantage of that in the first half,” said Lipscomb Head Coach Charles Morrow, “[I’m] really proud of the way the guys defended, and stuck together, and sort of gridded out the win.”
Lipscomb won back-to-back games for the first time since November of 2023, when the Bisons won its 3rd conference tournament in a row.
Lipscomb will travel to Chapel Hill to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels this Saturday, Sept. 26, at Dorrance Field.
Featured Image taken by Evelyn Bern
Interviews conducted by Harold Espinoza Lopez
