March 31, 2011
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By Pat Salvas
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Already deep into the spring season, the UCF men's soccer team celebrated Alumni Weekend with several exciting events. Two alumni games, a spring exhibition and an alumni dinner marked the weekend of activities for the Knights.
The weekend began Friday night with an alumni event hosted by the Friends of UCF Soccer. The evening included dinner, the team's 2010 highlight video and the presentation of awards earned by members of the team throughout this past season.
"It was a great weekend for the entire UCF Soccer family," said head coach Bryan Cunningham. "Seeing all the alumni and the current team together really shows what a great support base we had in reaching all new heights this past season. Credit a lot of our recent success with the foundation those individuals built for us today."
During the presentation portion of Friday's event, this year's Knights received medals for helping the program to its fourth berth in the NCAA Tournament. Warren Creavalle was also honored as UCF's first All-American since 1997, while he also joined sophomore Nik Robson and junior captain Kevan George in receiving their awards for being named to the NSCAA/Performance Subaru All-South Region Teams.
In addition to the all-region and All-American honors, Creavalle, George and Robson along with senior Yaron Bacher, sophomore Shawn Doyle and freshman Steven Lamberta were all presented with their awards from Conference USA for earning spots on the league's all-conference teams.
Friday night also allowed the UCF coaching staff to announce the top moment of the season. Cunningham and assistant coaches Mauricio Ruiz and Antti Laitinen selected junior Spencer Scott's game-winning goal over then-No. 5 SMU on Oct. 2 at the UCF Soccer Complex. Scott's goal midway through the second half lifted the Knights to a 2-1 win over the Mustangs; the first-ever over a top-10 team in program history. That victory helped propel UCF to its first-ever top-25 ranking and its best RPI ranking.
Following Friday night's festivities, the team returned to the pitch to take on the recent alumni in a game on the Knights' practice field with the current squad taking the win. Later in the afternoon, the pre-1990s alumni took on the pre-1990s alumni from Rollins. The former Knights handled the former Tars, 3-0, in Winter Park.
The weekend concluded with the current UCF squad taking on FC Tampa Bay of the North American Soccer League. The Knights dropped the exhibition contest, 3-0, at the UCF Soccer Complex.
Up next for the Knights is a scrimmage against the U-17 U.S. National Team on April 9 at the UCF Soccer Complex. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
The 2011 UCF Soccer Alumni Teams.