ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – After spending five weeks in the top-20 of the United Soccer Coaches Poll last season, the UCF men’s soccer team will begin their 2019 campaign ranked No. 15 in the nation.
The No. 15 mark comes via the United Soccer Coaches Preseason poll, released on Tuesday on afternoon. UCF broke into the top 25 at No. 19 on October 9 of last season and climbed as high as No. 7. The Black and Gold concluded their 2018 season with a second-round exit in the NCAA Tournament and a final ranking of No. 18.
The Knights will look to climb even higher this season as they return a majority of their core, including the second-leading goal scorer in the nation in Cal Jennings. He tallied 20 goals last season on his way to earning All-American honors.
UCF will begin their fall practices next week as they prepare to defend their American Athletic Conference title. The Knights went 5-1-1 in their conference slate to take the regular season crown. They fell just short in the conference tournament, losing to SMU in the final by a count of 5-4 in PKs.
Two teams on UCF’s schedule are currently ranked inside the top 10 with both of those teams landing on opening weekend for the Knights. On August 30, UCF will open the season at Wake Forest, who are currently ranked fourth in the nation. The Demon Deacons were the No. 1 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament but were defeated in the Sweet 16 by the eventual NCAA runner-up Akron. The Knights will then head to No. 6 North Carolina on September 1 to round out a highly competitive weekend on the road.
The Knights will face two teams later in the season who received votes in the preseason poll. American Athletic Conference foes UConn and SMU had votes to be in the top 25 to begin the season, but not enough to break through the ceiling.
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