Feb. 20, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF men's soccer team opens its 2008 spring campaign on Saturday when it plays host to Jacksonville, St. Leo and Stetson in a round-robin tournament beginning at 12 p.m. at the UCF Soccer Complex.
Each of the games will last 35 minutes in duration. The Knights face Jacksonville at 12 p.m., St. Leo at 1 p.m. and Stetson at 2 p.m.
UCF is looking to build on its 2007 campaign, which featured tournament championships at both the New Mexico Invitational and the UCF Invitational. The Knights return a pair of All-Conference USA selections in junior Ryan Roushandel (Atlanta, Ga.), who was a member of the All-C-USA Second Team last season, while rookie Dustin McCarty (Maitland, Fla.) was selected to the league's All-Freshman Team.
"This will be a great tune-up for all four teams as we kick off the spring season," UCF head coach Bryan Cunningham said. "Our players have been working extremely hard and are looking forward to their first opportunity to play."
Jacksonville, an Atlantic Sun Conference member, finished last season with an 11-7-2 overall record and just narrowly missed an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament last season when it fell in penalty kicks in the finals of the league tournament. St. Leo, of the Sunshine State Conference, finished last year with a 9-5-3 record, while Stetson, a member of the Atlantic Sun, is coming off an 11-5-2 record, which marked the seventh time in its program history that the Hatters won 10 or more games in a single season.
Saturday's round-robin tournament marks the first of six spring dates in which the Knights will compete in 2008.
Time Game Location12 p.m. UCF vs. Jacksonville UCF Soccer Complex St. Leo vs. Stetson Practice Fields1 p.m. UCF vs. St. Leo UCF Soccer Complex Stetson vs. Jacksonville Practice Fields2 p.m. UCF vs. Stetson UCF Soccer Complex Jacksonville vs. St. Leo Practice Fields
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2008 UCF Men's Soccer Spring Schedule
Date Opponent Location TimeFeb. 23 Stetson, St. Leo, Jacksonville (round robin) Orlando, Fla. 12 p.m.March 2 Palm Beach Pumas Orlando, Fla. 12 p.m.March 4 Malmo (Swedish 1st Division team) Orlando, Fla. 7 p.m.March 28 at Rollins College Winter Park, Fla. 7 p.m.April 11 Warner Southern Orlando, Fla. 7 p.m.April 12 Alumni Game Orlando, Fla. 11 a.m.