Men's Soccer Falls to #2 Utah Valley in WAC Tournament

Wednesday, November 13

Colorado Springs, Colo.

7:00 PM

Kansas City

6-11-0, 5-6-0

Utah Valley University

12-6-1, 8-3-0

Kansas City

Utah Valley

Men's Soccer Falls to #2 Utah Valley in WAC Tournament

11/13/2019 8:51:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Kansas City Men's Soccer ends its season after falling 3-0 to Utah Valley in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. The No. 7 Roos looked to upset the No. 2 ranked Utah Valley Wolverines in the first round, but fell behind early and could not climb back into the game. Kansas City ends its season with its best record in regular season WAC play (5-6-0) since the 2014 season, as the young team shows a lot of promise for the future of this program.

"This team totally convinced me tonight of what a good team they have become and what a bright future we have," said Head Coach Rick Benben. "Our play and effort was outstanding and we are very disappointed that we will not still be playing. That being said, our overall season was amazing."

The first half was highly contested, solid soccer as both teams battled every minute knowing what was on the line. In the 30th minute an attacking Wolverine took a touch in the box and was fouled by Roos defender Jordan Salt to set up a penalty kick. The Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year Blake Frischknecht left no doubt in the PK to give Utah Valley a 1-0 lead. Kansas City saw several opportunities to find the equalizer in the first half, taking nine shots to the Wolverines six, but couldn't get any to fall.

In the second half, Kansas City found it's best opportunity of the night just 10 minutes in. Kevin Komodi sent a beautiful cross off of a corner kick to the back post and to the waiting head of Giacomo Caruso. Caruso fired a header off the bottom of the cross bar, just inches away from the equalizer. It was, again, a highly contested game for a solid 75 minutes tonight. Kansas City was forced to go into a heavy attack in the closing minutes to climb back into it, leaving holes in the back line for UVU to exploit and score the last two goals.

"We had a couple of really bad breaks, beginning with a controversial off sides decision on Khedoo's goal being disallowed in the first half and a disputed PK awarded to UVU," said Head Coach Rick Benben. "But they continued to outplay UVU and were very unlucky to not get an equalizer."

All-WAC Freshman Team honoree Aiden Cavanaugh took a team high four shots for the Roos tonight, putting three of them on goal. Cavanaugh, the freshman from St. Paul, Minn., looks to be a bright spot for Kansas City moving forward. Ryan Khedoo was a focal point for the Wolverines tonight, as they knew they had to take away chances from the speedy forward in order to win.

"He (Khedoo) is a very talented player and he got the best of us in the last matchup and we knew we had to stop him tonight," said Wolverines Head Coach Greg Maas in the post game interview.

This marks the last season for Kansas City men's soccer competing in the Western Athletic Conference, as the athletic department and its sports will be switching over to the Summit League next season. Seniors Filippo Errico, Giacomo Caruso, Ian Hodge, and Antoine Precheur wrap up their careers as a Roo, having put together brilliant collegiate careers both on the field and in the classroom.

"Three seniors and a JUCO transfer (Khedoo) lead a talented group of sophomores and freshman to a successful WAC conference season," said Head Coach Rick Benben. "The future is bright and we are anxious to get going and competing in the Summit League."