LEXINGTON, Ky. - Trailing 4-1 with just under 20 minutes left in the match, the IUPUI offense got busy but came up a goal short against UNC-Asheville in a 4-3 loss on Friday night. The match was both team's season opener at the UK Invitational, held at the UK Soccer Complex.
"We gave a good, fighting, competitive spirit the last 15 minutes," IUPUI head coach Steve Franklin said. "We could've conceded after falling behind, but instead, we threw the kitchen sink at them and fought until the end."
Senior Vangel Nacovski opened his final season on a high note, notching his sixth career multi-goal game, tying for the program's all-time lead. The goals were the 29th and 30th of his career as he sits in fourth on IUPUI's career list.
Nacovski made it 4-2 on his third career penalty kick with 15:34 left, coming after UNCA's Nicholas Baud was assessed a red card. The persistent IUPUI offense continued to make the most of the one man advantage as sophomore Eric Weigman cut the lead to one with 4:32 left.
Senior Adrian Conrad worked inside the UNCA six-yard box, before dropping back a pass to Weigman, who went lower left with the shot.
Unfortunately, the Jaguars were unable to mount any further attack over the final four minutes in defeat. For the match, IUPUI outshot the Bulldogs 8-7 overall and 5-4 on net.
"We couldn't get our front runners involved in the play," Franklin said. "We couldn't get Wiggy involved at all, so we had to move him out wide. From there, he was dangerous."
Earlier, Nacovski pulled the Jaguars even at one all with just under 20 minutes left in the first half. UNCA's Nathan Neal broke a scoreless tie in the game's 20th minute after taking a cross from Caleb Alexander and putting a shot past IUPUI goalkeeper Michael Rietveld. Less than six minutes later, Nacovski knotted the match by corralling a rebound and knocking a blast past UNCA's Phillip Horner.
The tie was short-lived though, as UNCA (1-0) forward Scott Szymanski broke the deadlock before halftime by taking a shot just outside the six-yard box and beating Rietveld to the lower left hand corner.
Alex Morrow and Szymanski added the needed insurance in the second half to provide the final margin. Morrow scored on a long direct kick in the 60th minute while Szymanski scored on a header in the 71st minute.
Rietveld allowed all four UNCA goals, while junior Francisco Maia played the final 17:21 in net without facing an attempt. Horner had three stops for the victors.
IUPUI (0-1) will conclude play at the UKIT on Sunday when it faces Cornell at noon. Cornell will play Kentucky in the backend of Friday's doubleheader. Sunday's match marks the first-ever meeting between the Jaguars and the Big Red.
"Cornell's a very veteran squad," Franklin said. "They're very disciplined, which is what you would expect from an Ivy League team. It's going to be a tough test, but this gives us an opportunity to see our weaknesses and address them."
