ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF men’s soccer team has earned three major award honors from the American Athletic Conference announced Tuesday as Cal Jennings was named Offensive Player of the Year, Louis Perez earned Midfielder of the Year, and Yannik Oettl was named Goalkeeper of the Year.
Cal Jennings
Jennings has been a top offensive player in all of Division I men’s soccer since his first match of the season. The native of Roswell, Ga., has netted three hat tricks this year and has had six multi-goal matches.
His trio of hat tricks came against Liberty (Aug. 31), Stetson (Sept. 15), and FGCU (Oct. 16) and account for nearly half of his goals this season. Jennings has notched a total of 19 goals and four assists for 42 points during the regular season. His 19 goals is the third-most in a season in program history and his 42 points is fourth-best.
In The American, Jennings has shattered conference records and now holds the single-season record for goals and points.
Jennings has been grabbing national attention as he sits second in the country in goals per game (1.27), points per game (2.80), shots on goal per game (3.07), total goals and points. Jennings is third in the nation in game-winning goals (six), and first in Division I in shots per game (5.33).
The junior leads The American in all those same categories.
This season, the Jennings has earned Offensive Player of the Week three times, has been named to Top Drawer Soccer’s Team of the Week twice and earned College Soccer News’ National Player of the Week.
This is the fourth-straight Offensive Player of the Year honors for UCF in The American and fifth overall since joining the conference.
Louis Perez
Perez has been a reliable and consistent piece to the Knights offense, starting in all 15 matches he has played in. The sophomore has netted three goals and five assists for 11 points while playing 1,300 minutes.
Perez was the Knights’ go-to during the regular season on set pieces taking 51 corners including 17 against Penn State, tying the program record.
The native of Paris, France took 39 total shots with 14 of them on target. The left-footed midfielder is known for his accuracy from a distance after grabbing the game-winning goal from 25-yards out against Cincinnati to secure the regular season title for UCF.
While being the ringleader for the offense, UCF outscored their opponents, 40-16. The Knights took an average of 20 shots per game with an average of 2.50 goals per game.
Throughout the regular season, Perez grabbed the first and the last Offensive Player of the Week honors from The American.
Yannik Oettl
Oettl has registered 1,485 minutes between the posts starting in all 16 matches for the Knights. He allowed just 16 goals on the season and recorded four shutouts with 53 saves for a .768 save percentage. The sophomore finished the regular season with a 12-2-2 record overall and 5-1-1 in conference play.
Oettl was not only a threat in goal, but also provided a pair of assists on the season. The Munich, Germany native is well-known for his powerful foot and delivered an assist to both Jennings and Walker Dawkins this season from his own 18-yard box.
Oettl managed the Knights’ defense and directed the backline to see only 157 shots on the season for an average of nine per match.
Oettl snagged four Goalkeeper of the Week honors throughout the season from The American.
Up Next
The Knights have earned a first-round bye in The American tournament after defeating Cincinnati, 1-0 Friday evening and earning the regular season champions title. UCF will also host the tournament at the UCF Soccer Complex, Nov. 6-10.
The Knights will play the winner of the UConn/Temple matchup at 7 p.m., Nov. 8.
All tournament information can be found here.
This is the first regular season title for UCF since 2004 and first in The American.
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