LOUISVILLE, Ky. --- UC Irvine men's soccer got the season going in hostile Lynn Stadium, the home of No. 9 Louisville, and despite an early advantage, saw it disappear quickly and never could regain the lead dropping its season opener 2-1 Friday night.

The Cardinals (1-0) took control of the early going with the match's first four shots, but it was the Anteaters (0-1) who struck first. In the 21st minute, the Anteaters drew a foul just outside the box, and senior Mario Ortiz would lace home the set piece attempt for the 1-0 UCI lead.

Louisville awoke soon after knotting things up in the 25th minute. A failed clearance attempt fell to Adrien Cabon near the top of the box, and he slipped home a curler inside the right post making it 1-1. Cabon returned to the scoresheet in the 29th minute slipping behind the defense and firing a similar shot into the same side of the net to snag the 2-1 lead.

The score held into the half, and the Cardinals continued to pressure in the second half building a 14-5 shot advantage along with 11 corner kicks, but the 'Eaters had their chances including a couple tries on target that were turned aside. UCI had a waning opportunity in the final minute as Mario Ortiz's shot slid just high of the bar shoring up the 2-1 Cardinal win.

Anteater keeper Greg Patenaude stopped three shots in his UC Irvine debut. Joining him in making their debuts were five starters - Victor Falck, Erick Gallinar, Haakon Heltne, Jose Soto, and Alvaro Quezada. Ateno Ajeakwa and Lawrence Yamaguchi did so as reserves. UCI had a pair of shots on target, both from Mario Ortiz.

The 'Eaters still have a chance for a result in Kentucky with a final match on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. playing at Northern Kentucky.