WINSTON-SALEM, NC (UCFKnights.com) – The No. 15 UCF men's soccer team fell in their first match of the season to No. 4 Wake Forest by a score of 2-1.
The match started out slow before UCF finally registered the first shot of the contest off the foot of Cal Jennings. The Knights would continue to hammer shots at Wake Forest, but only one of them was on target in the first half. Things were looking good by the end of the first 45 minutes as UCF had outshot the Demon Deacons 5-0.
Play got a little chippy to begin the second half as there were eight fouls called in the first twelve minutes of play. After not registering a shot in the first half, Wake Forest took advantage of a turnover and netted the first goal of the match as Bruno Lapa scored in the fifty-eighth minute. Soon after, the Demon Deacons struck again in the sixty-sixth minute off another turnover where Kyle Holcomb beat Yannik Oettl one on one.
Late In the eighty-ninth minute, the Knights were awarded a corner kick and made the most of the opportunity. After controlling play for roughly half a minute after the corner, Gianluca Arcangeli punched home UCF's first goal of the season off an assist from freshman Jeremy Di Lallo. The Black and Gold were unable to make anything happen with the remaining seconds as they fell in a tight top 25 battle to start 2019.
UCF's goal in the ninetieth minute was the first scored against Wake Forest in program history. The Black and Gold had been previously shut out in their only two matches against Wake Forest, with their last meeting coming in 2006.
UP NEXT
The Knights will take on No. 6 North Carolina as they wrap up their opening weekend ACC road-trip. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on ACC Network Extra.
SEASON TICKETS
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