Nov. 1, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - With a goal with 24 seconds left, Darnell King gave visiting Florida Atlantic (5-10-1) a 1-0 victory over UCF (6-10) in men's non-conference soccer action Saturday night at the UCF Soccer Complex. The loss put a damper on "Senior Night" for the Knights, as Chris Anduar (Naples, Fla.), Bryan Collier (Fayetteville, Ga.) and Ryan Roushandel (Atlanta, Ga.) were honored in their final home game at UCF.
"It is disappointing," said head coach Bryan Cunningham of the team's fifth-straight loss. "We talked about trying to send these seniors out right all week. It is still the growing pains of a young team. Just when you think they have outgrown their freshmen status we do something silly like this."
With overtime seeming imminent late in the contest, FAU's Gianni Piccoletti sent a through ball into the box to King, who made a nice finish to get a shot from 10 yards out past UCF keeper Sean Johnson to the far post. It was King's second marker of the season.
Led by four shots from sophomore Yaron Bacher (Atlanta, Ga.) and three from Collier, UCF outshot the Owls 13-8 in the game. Phillip Lamarre made five saves to earn the win for FAU in goal while Johnson stopped two shots for the Knights.
The two teams went to the halftime break scoreless after an opening period in which UCF outshot the Owls 8-6. Sophomore Yaron Bacher (Atlanta, Ga.) fired three shots in the half and Collier added a pair. In the 21st minute, freshman Kevan George (Decatur, Ga.) found Collier with a through ball, but FAU keeper Phillip Lamarre charged out and made a save.
With the home slate of games behind them, UCF will travel to Columbia, S.C. for its regular-season and Conference USA finale on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.
"We go up to South Carolina next week and hopefully we will put a good performance up, finish some opportunities and hopefully get back in the win column," said Cunningham.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to www.UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit www.UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
Soccer Game Summary (Final)
Nov 1, 2008 at Orlando, Fla.
FAU (5-10-1) vs. UCF (6-10-0)
Date: Nov 01, 2008 Attendance: 717
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
FAU....................... 0 1 - 1
UCF....................... 0 0 - 0
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 89:36 FAU KING, Darnell (2) (PICCOLETTI, GIANNI) - through ball to box, beat keeper far post
Shots: FAU 9, UCF 13 Saves: FAU 5 (LAMARRE, Phillip 5), UCF 2 (Johnson, Sean 2)