ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – They say good things come in threes as Cal Jennings recorded his third hat trick of the season Tuesday night as No. 19 UCF defeated FGCU, 5-1 at the UCF Soccer Complex.
Jennings, Louis Perez, and Yoni Sorokin collected goals for the Knights, while Hattabiou Barry, Max Stiegwardt, Noah Murphy, and Mauricio Villalobos Vega each added an assist.
UCF racked up 14 total points in the match as they continue to be among the top five best scoring teams in the country. Murphy snagged his first point of the season after dishing out an assist.
A total of 20 different Knights recorded minutes in the win, including Jack McCloskey who registered a season-high 66 minutes.
UCF improves to 9-2-2 overall, surpassing last season’s total wins, while the Eagles drop to 7-4-1.
SCORING
- UCF | 00:25 | The Knights wasted no time getting ahead after Stiegwardt fed a ball from midfield to find Jennings streaking up the far side of the field. Jennings deeked out the keeper and rifled a shot to the upper left corner of the net.
- UCF | 25:42 | Barry found Jennings in the middle of the field just above the 18-yard box. Jennings had a three-on-one with two Eagle defenders and the keeper, which was no match for Jennings as he maneuvered around the trio and notched his second goal.
- UCF | 50:02 | Villalobos Vega crossed the ball to Perez from the far side. Perez waited patiently 25 yards out and settled to ball sending a screamer into the top corner of the net for his second goal of the season.
- UCF | 59:23 | Jennings intercepted a lazy pass from the FGCU keeper and tapped the ball in with ease for his hat trick.
- FGCU | 83:45| After the initial shot from Jahan Rajaee, Joao Burti picked up the rebound without hesitation and blasted in the Eagles only goal of the night.
- UCF | 87:46 | Murphy saw Sorokin positioning himself inside the 18-yard box and headed a pass from midfield right to Sorokin who beat out defenders for his second goal of the year.
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- UCF scored on five of their six shots on goal.
- After their five goals Tuesday night, UCF has the fourth most goals in the country with 35.
- All three of Jennings’ hat tricks have occurred in the state of Florida (two at UCF and one at Stetson).
- Jennings is tied for third for the program’s single season goal record with 17.
- Jennings now holds the single season goal record for The American.
- For the second straight week, UCF is ranked 19th in Division I. The Knights also are 23 in the RPI.
- The Knights have netted 20 goals in four matches against Florida teams this season. The Knights face USF on Saturday for their final Florida opponent.
UP NEXT
UCF and South Florida battle it out in the War on I-4 Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the UCF Soccer Complex.
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