No. 9 UCF vs. Lipscomb |
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The No. 9 UCF men’s soccer team returns to the NCAA Tournament as the 14th seed playing host to Lipscomb for an evening showdown on Sunday, No. 18 at 6 p.m., at the UCF Soccer Complex.
The match will be streamed live on UCFKnights.TV and live stats will also be available. Tickets can be purchased here. The first 100 students will get into the match free of charge.
The Knights head into the match with an overall record of 13-2-3 after finishing the American Athletic Conference slate, 5-1-1 with a share of the conference regular season title.
UCF was denied The American Tournament title after SMU claimed converting all five of their penalty kicks to UCF’s four. The Knights scored the equalizer with 30 seconds left in the match forcing two overtime periods.
THE OPPONENT
- The Bison won the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament to earn an automatic qualifier into the tournament defeating Jacksonville, 2-1 and Stetson, 2-0.
- To move on to the second round, Lipscomb prevailed over Washington in penalty kicks, 5-4, after a 0-0 draw. During the match, Lipscomb did not have a single shot on goal.
- Lipscomb went 7-9 in the regular season before winning back-to-back matches in the A-Sun tournament to head into the NCAA Tournament, 9-9.
- After winning their first match of the season, the Bison lost seven straight matches including a 3-2 overtime loss to then No. 7 Kentucky.
- The Bison and Knights have played five of the same opponents this season: Jacksonville, FGCU, Stetson, Liberty, and Memphis. Lipscomb went 5-2 against common opponents, while the Knights went 5-0.
KNIGHT BITES
- Home Sweet Home - UCF takes advantage when playing on their home pitch. In the last two seasons, the Knights hold an 8-1-2 record at the UCF Soccer Complex this season and 12-1-3 over their last two seasons.
- All-Tourney, All The Time - Andres Hernandez Betancur, Cal Jennings, Yanis Leerman, and Louis Perez each earned All-Tournament honors. It is Perez’s second consecutive All-Tournament award after earning the accolade in the 2017 tournament.
- The Last Outing - In a match that was decided by penalty kicks, the two-seeded SMU men’s soccer team took home the American Athletic Conference Tournament trophy after a 5-4 penalty kick advantage in the conference tournament final.
- Late Surges - This season, UCF has scored 26 goals after the first half compared to the 18 in the first. In their last three matches, the Knights have scored all of their goals after the first 45 minutes.
- Hero Hernandez - Freshman Andres Hernandez Betancur picked a good time to net his first collegiate goal. With 30 seconds remaining in the match, Hernandez Betancur ripped a left-footed curler from just outside the 18-yard box placing it in the top corner for the equalizer.
- For the Record - UCF is 2-1-2 this season against Top 25 opponents based on RPI. Wins against UConn and West Virginia, a loss against UC Irvine, and draws with Virginia Tech and SMU.
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