Sept. 7, 2011
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By Jordean Matthews
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The No. 12 UCF men's soccer team remains undefeated early in the season after defeating North Florida, 3-0, Wednesday night at the UCF Soccer Stadium. The Knights (4-0), who ended their three-match home stretch, held a 19-4 shot advantage over the Ospreys.
"I am pleased with the senior leadership," UCF head coach Bryan Cunningham said. "It is what drives the underclassmen and they have been with me since their freshman year so they know what my expectations are and they set their own. The discipline from the upperclassmen has led right down to the underclassmen."
Sophomore McKauly Tulloch (Kingston, Jamaica) scored his sixth goal of the season in the 17th minute to give the Knights a 1-0 advantage over North Florida. Senior Kevan George (Roxborough, Trinidad) collected the assist.
Twenty scoreless minutes later, junior Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) increased the Knights' lead to 2-0, striking a 25-yard shot down the middle of the field past the North Florida goalkeeper.
"We are still creating a lot of chances and tonight we were fortunate enough to finish three of them," Cunningham added. "We got a lot of players involved tonight and are working on our combinations so overall I was pleased and that is a good sign for new things to come."
The Knights had a lot of scoring opportunities, taking 10 of their 19 shots in the second half. Junior Luiz Yamashita (Sao Paulo, Brazil) took an open shot in the 80th minute that went clear into the corner of the net but was called offside by the officials.
Nine of the Knights' shots were wide during the match as the Black and Gold continued to put pressure on the Ospreys' defense.
Junior A.J. Nelson (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) scored the final goal for UCF in the 83rd minute for the Knights to put the match away.
The Ospreys fell to 1-2 after tonight's match.
UCF mixed it up tonight as freshmen Justin White (Summerville, S.C.) and Matthew Gaskins (St. Petersburg, Fla.), along with junior Malcolm Reed (Summerville, S.C.) saw plenty of playing time for the Knights in the win.
"They are starting to learn the system and we are confident in them and they just need to be confident in themselves because we put them on the field for a reason," Cunningham said. "They are understanding our way of doing things and we are in a tough stretch of games so it is good to get some fresh legs on the field and give some of the guys who have been playing heavy minutes on the field some time off.
The Knights return to action Sunday afternoon at Bear Field when they travel to Mercer at 2 p.m.