JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - UCF senior Matias Pyysalo recorded his first-career hat trick to lead the Knights to a 4-0 victory on Monday evening at Jacksonville. The triumph also served as the first win of the Scott Calabrese era at UCF.
"I am very proud of the effort and attitude of the team tonight," Calabrese said. "We are continuing to improve with each wek of training and against Jacksonville we wanted to be more aggressive and make better choices in the final third. We tood a big step forward in this regard. We now need to continue to build on this performance."
Pyysalo scored the final three goals of the match, registering a natural hat trick at Southern Oak Stadium. UCF (1-2-0) tallied its first marker of the match off the foot of Yoni Sorokin in the 20th minute against Jacksonville (0-4-0).
HATS OFF
- The trio of goals for Pyysalo came in the 30th, 54th and 67th minutes. He tallied eight shots including six on target during 90 minutes of action.
- His first goal came on a feed by Sorokin, who finished with three points in the match.
- The American Preseason Offensive Player of the Year collected his own rebound in the 54th minute to extend the UCF lead to 3-0.
- A pretty feed from junior Max Stiegwardt led to the third tally by the Helsinki, Finland, native.
- It was the first hat trick recorded by a Knight since Deshorn Brown (currently with DC United) accomplished the feat vs. Memphis (10/24/12)
SHUTOUT FOR YANNIK
- Freshman goalkeeper Yannik Oettl made four second-half stops to preserve his first-career shutout.
- The last shutout by a freshman keeper for the Knights was by Matthew Rosenberg last year in a 1-0 victory over Cincinnati (11/5/16).
KNIGHTS NOTES
- A total of four shots, of which two were on goal, were recorded by freshman Hattabiou Barry, who notched his first point as a Knight by assisting on the opening marker.
- The Knights controlled possession and fired 10 shots in the first half without conceding an attempt.
- UCF accounted for 14 of its 24 shots in the second stanza.
- A 7-3 edge in corner kicks was also held by the Knights.
- This is the second-straight year that UCF has scored four goals against Jacksonville. The Knights won 4-1 last year at home.
- Along with Pyysalo and Oettl, Andreas Steineger, Zachary Waitman and Jonathan Dean played a full 90 minutes.
NEXT UP
- Due to their home opener being canceled due to inclement weather on Sept. 1, the Knights will play their fourth-consecutive road match on Saturday at West Virginia.
- UCF returns home on Sept. 12 for a 7 p.m. contest against FIU. This will be the first time that Coach Calabrese goes up against his former team.
A NEW ERA
The UCF men's soccer team is in its first campaign under the guidance of head coach Scott Calabrese and will welcome seven teams to the UCF Soccer Complex. Click here or call (407) 823-1000 for ticket information.
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