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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Ian O'Reilly scored a goal late in the second half Sunday night as Northern Kentucky University earned a 1-1 draw against the University of Kentucky in a men's soccer exhibition game in front of a crowd of 1,462 at the NKU Soccer Stadium.
Norse goalie A.J. Fleak assisted on O'Reilly's goal, which came in the 84th minute and enabled NKU to tie the contest at 1-all. After Kentucky's Caleb Richardson picked up his second yellow card and was sent off the field, Fleak sent a long kick downfield into the box.
O'Reilly beat a pair of Wildcat defenders and sent a header over the outstretched arms of goalie Jack Van Arsdale into the net for the tying marker.
"It was a well-driven ball in," O'Reilley said of the play that led to his goal. "I think Danny Laird and the keeper kind of collided, and I was around the back and the ball just bounced to me. I just nodded it in."
Kentucky took a 1-0 lead at the 29:42 mark when Tyler Riggs finished off a lead pass from Richardson with a 12-yard strike into the back of the net. The Wildcats maintained that advantage until the 84th minute.
NKU finished with a 10-7 edge in shot attempts and a 7-6 advantage in corner kicks. The standing-room only crowd of 1,462 surpassed the previous NKU record of 1,206, which was set a year ago when Kentucky also visited for an exhibition game.
"It was kind of one of those Helter Skelter games in the beginning," NKU head coach John Basalyga said. "We were trying to figure out what we were doing. We weren't linking very well with our midfielders. We sorted some things out, had some opportunities, and we waiting until the end of the game with about seven minutes left and we put one in the box and beat the guy to the ball."
A year ago, NKU posted a 7-10-1 overall record in its inaugural Division I campaign. The Norse are picked fifth in the Atlantic Sun Conference preseason poll.
NKU and Kentucky have met just once in a regular-season contest, and the Norse pulled out a 2-0 win during the 1980 campaign. The two teams are 0-0-2 against each other in exhibition play, both in front of huge crowds at NKU.
"It's great for the kids to have this kind of excitement here tonight, especially when we are playing a team like Kentucky," Basalyga said. "I know they fed off the enthusiasum of the student body, both behind their goal and behind their bench."
NKU begins regular-season play Friday at 7:30 p.m. with a road contest at IPFW. The Norse then compete in the University of Dayton Classic, with games against host Dayton (Sept. 6) and Eastern Illinois (Sept. 8).
