LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Old Dominion men's soccer team struck first but eventually fell in the first overtime to No. 18 nationally ranked Kentucky by a 2-1 score on a rainy Saturday morning at the Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex.
In the 56th minute, Ettore Casadei was tripped on a breakaway, leading to an ODU penalty kick, which Ruben Pedersen finished to give the Monarchs a 1-0 lead. The goal was the second of the season for Pederson, a sophomore from Lyngby, Denmark.
UK's Leon Jones scored his first goal of the season in the 87th minute off a pass from Enzo Mauriz to tie the match at 1-1 and force overtime.
With just 13 seconds remaining in the first overtime, Marcel Meinzer scored off an assist from Clay Holstad to lift Kentucky (10-4-2, 2-3-1 C-USA) to a 2-1 victory on Saturday in Lexington.
"I am very proud of our guys today, but we just could not finish it off and eventually got tired," said ODU head coach Alan Dawson. "We have one last chance to grab a victory at home and we are looking forward to it."
ODU's Djibril Doumbia was credited with six saves in 100 minutes of work. For the match, the Wildcats outshot ODU 27-7, while taking all 10 of the match's corners.
Old Dominion (1-3-3, 0-3-3 C-USA) will return to the pitch for the regular season finale on Saturday, April 17, when the Monarchs welcome FIU to the ODU Soccer Complex for a 2 p.m. start on CUSA.TV. Next Saturday will mark Alumni Day for the ODU men's soccer program. To accommodate Monarch fans as a result of the difficult circumstances related to the pandemic, the ODU Athletics department is pleased to offer free admission to all home ODU soccer matches for the 2021 season.
The latest edition of Dawson's Week was released earlier this week, as ODU head coach Alan Dawson and Ted Alexander talk all things Old Dominion men's soccer. To watch the newest installment of Dawson's Week, please CLICK HERE.
Monarchs Fall at No. 18 Kentucky in Overtime, 2-1
