Nov. 21, 2004
ORLANDO - The UCF men's soccer team (11-6-2) takes on its toughest task to date as the Golden Knights face top seed Wake Forest in the second round of the NCAA College Cup. The match is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Knights advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division I College Cup for the first time in history when they defeated No.23 ranked Florida International, 1-0, on Nov.19. It was the program's first win against a ranked opponent since the 1997 season when UCF twice defeated FIU - listed at No.2 and No.3 in the nation at the time.
After freshman Scott Baron scored an early goal, the Knights relied on stellar defense to stay ahead. The Golden Panthers controlled the game territorially, but couldn't finish on either their 14 shots or 12 corner kicks. UCF junior goalkeeper and two-time Atlantic Sun Defensive Player of the Year Ryan McIntosh made fives saves and moved past Dan Cordia in the school's career saves list with 277. He is also third all-time in career shutouts (18), while his career goals-against-average of 1.17 is fifth all-time. This season alone, McIntosh boasts seven shutouts, 86 saves and a 0.99 GAA.
The UCF defense continues to be solid having given up only 20 goals this season, fewer than in the previous two seasons that it made the NCAA Division I Tournament. Only twice this season, the Golden Knights have allowed more than two goals in a game - once at Denver and the other in the regular season match-up against FIU. The backfield was boosted by the return of senior tri-captain Tim Sobczak, who returned from his two-game hiatus due to injury during the A-Sun Tournament.
The Golden Knights will have to be on the top of their defensive game in order to defeat WFU. Wake Forest (13-5-1) has not played a match since dropping the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship game to Virginia, 2-1, on Nov. 14, but the Demon Deacons are still among the nation's elite. Last week, they were nationally ranked 10th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and 13th by Soccer America.
WFU has outscored opponents by a 34-19 margin thus far this season. Senior striker Scott Sealy leads the offensive attack with 14 goals - more than twice of any teammate. Six of those are gamewinners. He is also second behind Ryan Solle with eight assists for a total of 36 points.
The Demon Deacon defense - led by junior and All-American candidate Michael Parkhurst has allowed only 152 shots, while redshirt freshman Brian Edwards has made a total of 45 saves. He boasts a 0.97 goals-against-average and eight shutouts.