Oct. 25, 2011
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
DeLAND, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Playing its final regular-season non-conference match of the year, the No. 9 UCF men's soccer team tied Stetson, 1-1, in double overtime Tuesday evening at the Stetson Soccer Complex. The Knights received a goal from junior Nik Robson (Bucklands Beach, New Zealand) at the start of the second half, but the hosts evened the match with a score at the 85-minute mark.
UCF (9-2-3) totaled 21 shots, and had several attempts that hit the post and four point-blank shots that were saved by Stetson's (7-5-3) Andreas Schnabl.
"We played well enough to win," UCF head coach Bryan Cunningham said. "We created a lot of chances. You have to credit Stetson, they hung in there. Their goalkeeper made some great saves. It was very uncharacteristic of our team. We gave up a goal late, and we had to settle for the tie."
Robson gave the Knights a 1-0 edge one minute into the second half when he beat Schnabl on a penalty kick. Robson's goal was his third in the last two contests. On Saturday, the forward tallied two scores in UCF's 2-1 league victory over visiting Tulsa.
The Hatters did not go away and sent the contest into overtime when Kai Eckendode took a cross from Ryan Asare-Bedaiako and got past redshirt freshman goalkeeper Sebastian Evers (Miami, Fla.).
The Knights recorded four shots on goal in the second half, and each time, Stetson made point-blank saves. Senior Cameron Cooksey (Marietta, Ga.) nearly scored with less than a minute remaining, but his shot was stopped by a Hatter defender, and less than a minute earlier, a header from junior Malcolm Reed (Summerville, S.C.) hit the crossbar.
Making his second-straight start, Evers recorded four saves. The Knights finished with a 14-5 edge in corner kicks.
Stetson moved to 5-2-1 at home in 2011 following the tie.
UCF will return to its Conference USA schedule Saturday evening at Memphis.