Oct. 15, 2000
Bowling Green, Ky. - The Western Kentucky men's soccer team dropped a hard fought match to No. 4-ranked Southern Methodist on Sunday afternoon, 4-2 at the WKU Soccer Complex. The loss drops WKU's record to 5-9 overall and 3-3 in the MVC.
Western scored first against SMU in the third minute when senior Scott Gardner (Louisville, Ky.) nailed a header into the goal to give the Hilltoppers an early 1-0 lead. Gardner received the pass from junior Kyle Wuchterl (Crestwood, Ky.) on a header after a long throw-in toward the goal from Derek O'Brien (St. Louis, Mo.)
Southern answered right back in the match's 18th minute when Carl Bussey received the first of two assists on the day from Deigo Walsh on a short pass from a free kick near the Western goal. The scored remained 1-1 until the 43rd minute when an own goal from Western gave SMU the lead 2-1 at the half.
Western came right back in the second half when Gardner nailed his second goal of the season and the match on a header off a throw-in toward the goal from O'Brien. Gardner's goal evened the match at 2, and gave Western the momentum.
WKU lost the momentum when Deigo Walsh intercepted a WKU pass at midfield and raced past the Western defense giving the ball to Alfredo Suarez who tapped the ball on the fast break to Mohamed Fahim, who drilled the ball into the Western goal in the match`s 66th minute.
The final score of the match came on a a couple of header passes from Lee Brown and Kevin Friedland to Kevin Hudson who nailed a header into the goal for the 4-2 win.
"I was extemely pleased with the way our guys competed today," head coach David Holmes said. "We played a tough and physical match, and we got a little tired towards the end. SMU is a great team and we gave them a tough go of it today."
Western hits the road next weekend when they face Tulsa on Friday, Oct. 20, at 7:35 p.m. (CDT) in Tulsa, Okla.
