Oct. 6, 2010
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By Pat Salvas
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF men's soccer team's stellar 2010 season is not going unnoticed around the nation. For the first time in program history, the Knights made an appearance in this week's Soccer America national rankings. The rankings, released Tuesday morning before the team's 2-0 win over FIU, have UCF at No. 24.
"It's fantastic to get some national recognition, but it's all because of our hard work," head coach Bryan Cunningham said. "We have to keep doing the little things right and keep winning."
The Knights' 2-0 win Tuesday night over FIU pushed their 2010 record to 7-2 and 3-0 in Conference USA. Both win totals surpass their 2009 marks when the team was 6-7-3 overall and 2-5-1 in league games. The three conference wins to start the season mark the first time since joining C-USA in 2005 that UCF has been undefeated this late in league play.
The team's rise to national recognition came after defeating No. 5 SMU Saturday night, 2-1. Nik Robson's (Auckland, New Zealand) seventh goal of the season gave the team an early 1-0 lead, but Spencer Scott's (Palm City, Fla.) blast in the 66th minute proved to be the game winner as the Knights held off a late SMU push for the 2-1 win. The victory marked the first in program history over a top-10 team and helped propel UCF into this week's rankings.
The National Soccer Coaches Association of America is widely recognized as the premier rankings system used in college soccer. This week, the NSCAA rankings have the Knights receiving votes for the first time.
Against FIU, Goalkeeper Shawn Doyle (Ft. Myers, Fla.) recorded his fourth shutout of the season, turning aside four shots in the victory. Sophomores Eduardo Jimenez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and Luiz Yamashita (Sao Paulo, Brazil) each scored their first career goal in the game for UCF.
UCF returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 9 when it hosts Memphis. The Tigers and the Knights will kick off from the UCF Soccer Complex at 7 p.m.