NORFOLK, Va. – Karan Mandair's penalty kick at 52:50 and a stellar defensive showing made that tally stand as Old Dominion knocked off Kentucky 1-0 in Sun Belt Conference action Sunday night.
"It was a battle for 90 minutes between two blue collar teams that get after each other every time we play. We expected a battle and got one," said ODU Head Coach Alan Dawson. "Proud of the boys, they really fought hard and dug down deep. That was a blue collar win."
Nico Osygus served the ball into the penalty box and Kentucky defender Max Miller became entangled with Jonas Schmalbach which resulted in a penalty kick. Mandair drilled it into the lower left corner just past the outstretched arms of goalie Ryan Jack for the 1-0 advantage.
Mandair has three goals on the year, all three coming via penalty kick.
The first half saw Kentucky control most of the possession time, but ODU (3-0-5, 1-0-1) kept them off the board behind Michael Statham who made three of his four saves in the first half. In the second half, the possession time balanced out but Kentucky (3-5, 0-2) couldn't find an answer for the Monarchs defense.
"Statham in the first half really had a good game. I told him at half he had a great first half and he needed to duplicate it in the second, which he did," said Dawson.
ODU's win was the first over Kentucky since 2017 when the Monarchs won 2-0 and keeps their unbeaten streak alive at eight games to start the season.
The Monarchs are now off until September 30 when they face Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m. at the ODU Soccer Stadium.
Men's Soccer Blanks Kentucky 1-0
Karan Mandair