Oct. 2, 2005
ORLANDO - A goal by Mike Mattson in the 76th minute gave the UCF men's soccer team a 2-1 win over visiting Kentucky at the UCF Soccer Complex on Sunday afternoon.
It was the Golden Knights' first victory in Conference USA as they moved to 6-2-1 overall and 1-0-1 in league play. UK dropped to 3-3-4 overall, 0-1-1 in C-USA.
"Once again the team showed tremendous character in coming from behind, which will give the team confidence in those situations as the season continues," said UCF head coach Brent Erwin.
The Golden Knights dominated the first half of play as they outshot the Wildcats, 5-0. UCF got its first good scoring opportunity 12 minutes into the match when sophomore Adham Rashwan served the ball into the far side of the box where it was deflected before being cleared off the line by a UK defender.
With nine minutes remaining prior to the intermission, Kentucky goalkeeper Andy Grunebaum stopped a bullet from sophomore Rafael Teixeira to preserve the 0-0 score.
The Wildcats broke the scoreless tie four and half minutes into the second half when Matthew Baum took a pass from Riley O'Neill and caught UCF goalkeeper Ryan McIntosh out of position for the 1-0 lead.
UCF freshman Jake Howard scored low to the far side from 20 yards to tie the match in the 72nd minute. Just under four minutes later, Mattson recorded his third goal of the season off a corner kick from sophomore Islam Rashwan.
"I've been saying that the freshmen have been performing well for us. They definitely aren't rookies anymore," said Erwin.
The Golden Knights finished the afternoon with an 18-5 advantage in shots and an 11-5 margin in corner kicks. McIntosh and Grunebaum each finished with four saves.
UCF continues its first Conference USA campaign on Oct. 8 when they travel south to take on in-state rival Florida International at 7 p.m.