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BARRY RICE
SQUARES OFF AGAINST BEST PLAYERS
IN THE WORLD
Former
UK All-American Plays for D.C. United Against AC Milan, Brazilian Star
Ronaldinho
UK Media
WASHINGTON -- Just six months removed from completing a
standout
career at the University of Kentucky, former men’s soccer
All-American
defender Barry Rice competed in a friendly for Major League
Soccer’s D.C.
United, with United posting a 3-2 win over world power A.C. Milan, in
front of
30,367 fans at RFK Stadium.
A native of Parma, Ohio, Rice
had the opportunity of a lifetime to face off with A.C. Milan and star
Ronaldinho, considered the top soccer player in the world. Rice’s
club
bested the club of Ronaldinho, the former FIFA World Player of the
Year, using
goals Luciano Emilio, Chris Pontius and Danny Allsopp. The game
featured some
of the best players in the world in addition to Ronaldinho, including
forward
Alexandre Pato (Pato Branco, Brazil), Filippo Inzaghi (Piacenza,
Italy), and
Clarence Seedorf (Paramaribo, Suriname), with Rice playing the second
half of
the contest.
During his storied UK career,
Rice was a standout performer in all four seasons, starting all 21
games for UK
and totaling five assists and one goal, earning All-Conference USA
Freshman
honors. In 2007, Rice stepped up for an injury-ravaged offensive
attack,
leading the team with seven goals and one assist, despite playing on
the
backline for UK. As a junior, Rice helped lead UK to a school-record
10-match
unbeaten streak to end the season, adding two goals and one assist and
earning
C-USA Defensive Player of the Year. Following the 2008 season, Rice
earned his
second consecutive C-USA Defensive Player of the Year honor, marking
the only
two-time recipient of the award in the history of the league. As one of
three
team captains for the second consecutive year in 2009, Rice again had
an excellent
season, totaling two goals, while helping UK post a conference-pacing
0.78
goals-against average. In 2008 and 2009, Rice earned All-America
accolades, the
first player in program annals to earn two consecutive All-America
honors.
Overall in his UK career,
Rice owns 31 points (12 goals and seven assists), ranking sixth
all-time with
seven game-winning goals. His 78 career games checks in seventh-best in
UK
history.
Over his final two years at
UK, Rice’s athleticism, skills and instincts on the backline
created the
need for a new statistic to be kept by the UK soccer stats crew staff,
the
percentage of contested headers won vs. contested headers lost. In
2008, Rice
won 189-of-218 contested header attempts, an 87-percent clip, which was
highlighted by a shutout of Memphis in the regular-season finale, where
he won
32-of-36 contested header attempts. In 2009, Rice won 126-of-155
contested
header attempts (stat tracked in 16 of 18 UK games), an 81-percent mark.
A three-time first-team
All-Conference USA selection, Rice was named All-America in 2008 by
College
Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer. In 2009, Rice finished his career
earning
All-America accolades from the NSCAA, College Soccer News and Goal.com.
One of
three all-time All-America honorees in school history, Rice’s
accolades
in back-to-back seasons marks a first in the history of the program.
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