LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky men’s soccer team fell to third-ranked Ohio State 4-1 on the road Tuesday night at the Bell Soccer Complex, dropping to 0-3-2 on the season as the Buckeyes improved to 5-0-0.
Ohio State scored twice early, taking a 2-0 lead in the 14th and 19th minutes before Kentucky’s defense faced a mounting challenge. In the 36th minute, goalkeeper Benjamin Rasmussen was sent off with a straight red card after a foul outside the 18-yard box, forcing the Wildcats to play a man down for the remainder of the match.
Freshman forward Costa Iliadis, who transferred from Clemson University, scored Kentucky’s only goal in the 55th minute with an impressive left-footed finish into the far corner. Iliadis, a Toronto native who developed in youth soccer across Canada and Europe, now has two goals on the season for the Wildcats.
The goal briefly shifted momentum to Kentucky’s favor, but Ohio State scored twice more in the final half hour to secure the victory. The Buckeyes’ Martin McLaughlin and Josue Youta added goals as Ohio State dominated possession, outshooting Kentucky 21-9 overall and 9-2 in shots on goal. The match was marred by disciplinary issues, with Kentucky dropping to nine men in the 57th minute when forward Thomas Nielsen received a second yellow card.
Kentucky will look to rebound on Sept. 18 when it hosts 20th-ranked Marshall in Sun Belt Conference play at the Bell Soccer Complex. Admission to all Kentucky men’s soccer home matches is free to the public.
Sources
This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from UK Athletics, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/09/08/wildcats-fall-4-1-vs-no-3-ohio-state/.
