Nov. 2, 2010
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By Pat Salvas
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - In the final home game of the 2010 season, the No. 18 UCF men's soccer team defeated North Florida, 3-0, in the rain Tuesday afternoon. The Knights finish the season 7-1 at the UCF Soccer Complex with six shutouts. The nonconference win improves the Knights' record to 11-3-2 this season with one game remaining at Conference USA foe Tulsa on Friday night with tournament seeding ramifications for UCF.
North Florida finishes the season with a 3-12 overall record with Tuesday's three-goal loss.
"To come out on a school day, in the middle of the afternoon, against a nonconference opponent in the rain and have the team get up for a game like this is never easy," head coach Bryan Cunningham said. "But, credit to the guys on this team for coming out ready to play and scoring three goals in these conditions."
The Knights got on the board early with a beautiful passing play from Spencer Scott (Palm City, Fla.) and Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) that set up sophomore A.J. Nelson (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) in the eighth minute. Robson found Scott along the far side of the field. Scott corralled the pass near the sideline and put a ball into the middle of the box for Nelson to head past the UNF keeper.
Nelson and Scott both helped set up the second UCF goal in the 21st minute of play. Nelson found Scott in a similar spot along the sideline for another crossing pass. This time, Scott's pass found junior Cameron Cooksey (Marietta, Ga.) at the top of the box.
Cooksey took the pass and tried to juke the goalkeeper one-on-one inside the box. The ball deflected off UNF goalkeeper Andrew Calise and came right back to the feet of Cooksey. The UCF forward collected the loose ball and put it into the back of the net for the two-goal advantage on his sixth of the year.
Julian Botela looked as if he finally got North Florida on the scoreboard midway through the second half with a header. However, a diving save from sophomore goalkeeper Shawn Doyle (Ft. Myers, Fla.) kept the ball out of the net and the clean sheet intact. Doyle dove to his right and with his right hand was able to knock the shot off course and away from goal.
In the final two minutes of the game, UCF went up by three. Christian Eissele (Lake Mary, Fla.) scored his second of the season with just 1:32 remaining in the game. Eduardo Jimenez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) collected his fourth assist of 2010 on the final tally of the game, setting up Eissele with the through ball up the middle of the field.
Doyle now has seven shutouts this season, with six coming at the UCF Soccer Complex. His three saves in the game kept the Ospreys off the board, while helping his save percentage this season improve to .793. Doyle's goals-against average in 2010 is an impressive 0.72 with the shutout.
UCF will travel to Tulsa for Friday night's conference showdown in the final game of the regular season. The Knights are looking to secure the No. 2 spot in the conference tournament, while Tulsa is battling to hold on to the sixth and final spot in postseason play.