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By Pat Salvas
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFathletics.com) - When the first second ticked off the scoreboard at 7 p.m. on Sept. 1, few realized that in that moment began the best season in UCF men's soccer history. What started that night in Orlando, ended 81 days later in Ann Arbor, Mich., with so many program firsts and records in between. The 2010 Knights may have surprised those on the national soccer scene, but they did not surprise themselves with their rise to prominence.
Finishing 2009 with a 6-7-3 record showed progress from the season before, but was just a stepping-stone for this year's team.
UCF's six-win improvement to 12-5-3 this season was one of the best in the country and earned the team national rankings for much of the year. Its jump in the RPI from No. 159 at the end of last season to No. 33 this year is almost unheard of in college athletics. Few teams would even dream of moving up 126 spots in the RPI from one year to the next, but head coach Bryan Cunningham, his staff and all the players expected that kind of rise this fall.
"Overall the improvement was tremendous and all the credit goes to the players," Cunningham said. "The work they did, starting last spring, and just being motivated to improve upon their position in Division I soccer was the difference this year. We knew from the start that this was going to be a special season."
When it was all over, the Knights had three players on the All-Conference USA First Team and one on both the second and third teams, a feat not accomplished in any of the previous five seasons in the league. Add one more on the All-Freshman team and the Knights placed six players on all-conference teams.
"I firmly believe that when a team does well, individuals are rewarded," Cunningham said. "The team focused on playing as a unit, and in the end we had accolades for All-Conference, All-Tournament, All-Region, and All-American."
And they did all of this in front of record crowds at the UCF Soccer Complex, something that stands to continue to improve with the expansion and improvement of the venue this off-season. With an 8-1 mark at home this season with just three goals allowed and seven shutouts, including a 3-0 win over USF in the NCAA Tournament First Round, UCF won more games on its home field than any other team in the state of Florida.
"Our team plays an exciting brand of soccer and these players and the whole team are very entertaining to watch. It was fun to have these crowds come out and support us at every home game. Our hope is to increase that attendance figure next year with our new stadium opening in the fall," Cunningham said of the UCF fans this past season.
Back-to-back home shutouts over Jacksonville and Florida Atlantic to open the season set the stage for what the Knights would accomplish the rest of the way out. Nine goals in those first games from six different players laid the groundwork for what would be a complete team effort all season.
After splitting a weekend tournament at UNC-Wilmington with the hosts and Long Island, the Knights traveled to the northeast for its second-straight weekend on the road. After a heartbreaking loss in the final minute at UMass, the Black and Gold made their way to West Point for a meeting with Army.
There is always that one moment where a coach can pinpoint exactly when they knew their season turned. For Cunningham, that moment came at West Point with UCF Trailing Army 1-0 midway through the second half. All-C-USA First Team member Nik Robson stepped up and delivered the tying goal in the 71st minute, followed by freshman Christian Eissele's first-career goal just seven minutes later for the game winner.
The win propelled UCF on an unbeaten streak of nine games (7-0-2), a mark not reached by the program in 25 seasons. During that time, the Knights also began to break on the national scene, making their first appearance in program history in the top 25.
"The best part of the year was how we started, opening up here at home with two wins was tremendous," Cunningham said. "Going up to Wilmington and UMass were great trips against prior NCAA Tournament teams. Although we dropped a game to each, we learned a lot from those loses and really helped us define our identity.
A 2-1 overtime win at Marshall in the C-USA opener followed the Army game with Cameron Cooksey redirecting a Yaron Bacher corner into the back of the net in the 99th minute. The goal ended a five-game scoring drought for Cooksey, who scored twice in the season opener.
With the schedule now into October, the Knights were faced with their biggest game of the season to-date, a meeting with No. 5 and previously unbeaten SMU at the UCF Soccer Complex. In front of a record crowd of nearly 1,100 fans, UCF's defense stifled the SMU offense, holding them to just six shots in the game, and then took advantage midway through the second half.
With the score tied at 1-1, junior Spencer Scott delivered arguably the most important goal in program history in the 66th minute to lead the Knights to the 2-1 win; the first in program history over a top 10 team. SMU would go on to finish the regular season No. 2 in the country with its only loss coming that night at UCF.
Dominating play against SMU, the Knights out shot the Mustangs, 15-6. Building on that play, UCF went on to blank C-USA foes FIU (2-0) and Memphis (3-0) in its next two games to sweep the three-game home stand.
On the road against both Kentucky and South Carolina, UCF fought back from early deficits to earn 1-1 draws. The Gamecocks, eventual C-USA Tournament Champions, led early in the contest, but Ben Hunt's goal in the opening minutes of the second half proved to be the equalizer, earning the Knights another important point in conference play.
A 4-2 non-conference victory at Virginia Tech was followed by another home shutout for UCF, a 2-0 win over Stetson. The victory over the Hatters pushed the unbeaten streak to nine, something not accomplished since the Knights ended the 1985 season without a loss in their final eight games.
After a 2-1 loss to UAB at home (the only loss of the season at the UCF Soccer Complex), the Black and Gold rounded out the regular season with a 3-0 win against North Florida and a 1-1 tie at No. 19 Tulsa.
Wrapping up the regular season with an 11-3-3 overall mark, a 4-1-3 C-USA record, a No. 2 seed in the conference standings and a bye into the semifinals solidified the reality that this was the best season for the Knights since joining C-USA in 2005. But Cunningham and his team had much bigger goals in their sights.
"Finishing the season the way we did was very strong," Cunningham said. "We could've gotten ahead of ourselves after beating SMU, being nationally ranked and the high RPI, but the players kept their heads down and kept working hard which helped us get some results that helped wrap up the regular season in the Top 25 with a high RPI.
"To finish second in Conference USA is a tremendous achievement, especially with such a young team," Cunningham added. "We felt very good about the season, and were confident going into the postseason."
A 2-1 loss to Tulsa in the conference tournament was not enough to end UCF's season. The impressive campaign earned the Knights their first at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament and a home game against in-state rival South Florida.
UCF had three previous NCAA Tournament appearances after claiming A-Sun titles from 2002-04, but had never hosted a postseason game prior to its Nov. 18 meeting with the Bulls.
Hunt's goal midway through the first half got the Knights on the board first and was followed by Robson's 10th goal of the season in the final minute of the stanza for the two-goal lead.
Bacher capped his home career with the insurance goal in the 65th minute as UCF cruised to the 3-0 win, just its second NCAA Tournament victory for the program. Bacher's only other goal of 2010 came in the first game against Jacksonville, book-ending his final season with the Knights with tallies in the home opener and finale.
By beating the Bulls, UCF earned a date with No. 10 Michigan in the second round just three days later in Ann Arbor. In front of a capacity crowd in the first postseason game played at the newly opened U-M Soccer Stadium, the Knights took an early lead on a Robson tally in the ninth minute. UCF had several opportunities to take the lead again after Michigan tied it early in the second half, but just missed scoring the go-ahead goal. But the story of the game was sophomore goalkeeper Shawn Doyle and his 11 saves to hold off the surging Wolverine attack.
The 2-1 overtime loss to Michigan halted UCF's historic season of firsts, but did not diminish what was accomplished in the fall of 2010.
"It really was a wonderful achievement for the entire team and for our three seniors to experience the NCAA Tournament and to do it at home. It is a special feeling to play that game in front of your home fans," Cunningham remarked about his team's first round home game.
"It was great to reward the players and the fans that were so good to us all year with a first round game at home. To then beat a cross-state rival like USF in that atmosphere was great too. We looked good going up to Michigan, but unfortunately it just wasn't our day.
However, the future looks bright for the Knights, who return the league's top scorer in Robson. They will also benefit from returning All-C-USA First Team members Warren Creavalle and Kevan George. Both George and Creavalle will be back in 2011 as seniors, seeking to reach the next level of success for a program that appeared in national polls and the RPI's top 30 for the first time in 2010.
Following the season, it was announced that Creavalle had been named the program's first All-American in more than a decade as he was named as one of the 36 best players in the nation with his third-team selection.
He also earned a spot on the NSCAA All-South Region First Team, becoming the first UCF player to be honored with the distinction. Robson and George earned third team nods by the NSCAA, making 2010 the first time that more than one member of the Black and Gold was named to the all-region teams.
Just a sophomore, Doyle has proven to be an elite goalkeeper, posting the best goals-against average (0.82), save percentage (.821) and tied for the lead in shutouts (8) at the end of the season by any keeper in the conference. Doyle was especially stellar at home this season, posting seven shutouts and eight wins in nine contests, while allowing just three goals in 810 minutes of play at the UCF Soccer Complex. An all-conference third-team selection in 2010, Doyle is the foundation for the UCF defense, while benefiting from outstanding play in front of him from the likes of Bacher and sophomore Andrew Quintana.
Gone are seniors Bacher, Camilo Rendon and Josh Andone. Bacher, named to the league's second team in his final season, was one of the premier defenders in C-USA, but his veteran presence and leadership as a captain might have been his biggest contributions to the Knights. Rendon and Andone each added experience to a youthful team that also featured All-Conference USA Freshman Team member Steven Lamberta.
Sophomores A.J. Nelson, Eduardo Jimenez and Luiz Yamashita were all key contributors, combining for 10 goals and 29 points to further emphasize the Knights' team-oriented style of play.
Beating a BIG EAST team in the NCAA Tournament and taking the Big Ten Champion and eventual NCAA College Cup participant to extra time in front of a hostile crowd made for a thrilling end to the season. But, unlike it did at the beginning of this season, UCF now has the attention of the nation and they know they will have to be even better next fall, something Cunningham is ready for.
"We're going to miss the leadership of three seniors Yaron (Bacher), Camilo (Rendon) and Josh (Andone). They meant the world to the program and it's going to be hard replacing them," he said.
"That being said, we also feel confident in the group that is returning and the strong recruiting class that we have coming in. We feel that we are going to be a team to be reckoned with in the coming years."
UCF 2010 Season Notes
- UCF improved its win total by six this season, one of the best figures in the nation.
- The No. 2 seed in the C-USA Tournament was the highest for UCF since joining the league in 2005.
- Creavalle became the first UCF player to be named an All-American since 1997.
- The Knights finished first in team stats categories in C-USA: assists (44), assists per game (2.20), goals against (17) and goals-against average (0.82).
- Despite being named to the All-C-USA Third Team, Doyle led the conference in goals-against average (0.82), save percentage (.821) and tied for the lead in shutouts (8).
- Doyle's eight shutouts in 2010 tie him for the most in a single season by a UCF keeper with Winston DuBose (1975) and Ryan McIntosh (2003). His 10 career clean sheets rank seventh in program history, one ahead of current assistant coach Antti Laitinen.
- Doyle's save percentage ranked 24th nationally, while UCF's team save percentage was 18th in the country.
- UCF scored 41 goals in 2010 after scoring 25 in 2009. The Knights reached 25 goals in 2010 in just their 12th game of the season.
- The 12 wins marks the first double-digit victory total for the team since 2004 (11-7-2), their final season in the A-Sun, and are the most since 2003 (12-6-3).
- When the first RPI of the season was released the Knights were ranked in the top 30 for the first time in school history.
- UCF tied Tulsa with three players on the all-conference first team in 2010, a program record.
- Warren Creavalle became the first UCF player in 13 seasons to be named to the NSCAA All-South Region First Team and Third Team All-American. Nik Robson and Kevan George were named to the third team, setting a new UCF record with three players honored with spots on the all-region team.
The win over USF was just the second NCAA victory in team history for the Knights with the other coming in 2004.
- The eight home wins were the most by any team in the state of Florida.
- UCF joins Duke, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Penn, Penn State and West Virginia as the only seven Division I schools to have both the men's and women's programs earn the NSCAA Team Academic Award and qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
- The Knights finished 13th in the nation in scoring offense at 2.05 goals per game and 12th in total goals with 41.
- Robson was 14th in the nation in points per game (1.63), 10th in total points (31), 22nd in goals per game (0.58) and 24th in total goals (11).
- His nine assists as a sophomore are tied for seventh most in a season at UCF, while his 31 points are the most by any Knight since 1999.
- UCF's 41 goals this season were the most by any team in the state of Florida, while its eight shutouts were second.
- Five Knights reached double figures in points for the first time since the 1997 season.
- Undefeated against in-state opponents, going 6-0. The Knights' defense did not allow those six opponents to score in any game, outscoring Florida opposition 20-0.