TAMPA, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The No. 8 UCF men's soccer team prevailed over their rival, the South Florida Bulls by a score of 1-0 on Saturday evening to extend the Knights' unbeaten streak to 12 matches and push their winning streak to three matches.
"I loved the way in which our team competed tonight," said UCF head coach Scott Calabrese, "We were aggressive and made very good decisions. Most importantly, when things didn't go our way or we had to defend for longer periods, we had a strong mentality. That's a big key when you play in matches like this; that you respond to adversity in the right way and we were able to do that."
UCF came out strong in the first half but were unable to find the back of the net. The Knights tallied eight shots to South Florida's three in the first half. The Black and Gold possessed the ball 56 percent of the time through the first 45 minutes.
It didn't take long for the Knights to find the scoresheet in the second half. In the 49th minute, Richard Amon fed a ball into Gino Vivi on the wing. From there, Vivi spun a beautiful ball into the box where Jonas Schmalbach was able to punch it home for the first goal of the match. The score was Schmalbach's second goal of his young career.
With the assist on the goal, Vivi is now riding a three-match point streak. He has collected three assists so far this season to go with his four goals, giving him 11 points in his rookie campaign.
The UCF goal wound up being the only one of the night as Yannik Oettl went on to earn his fourth clean sheet of the season and tenth of his career, making five saves along the way. It didn't come easy as the Bulls applied heavy pressure in the waning moments of the evening.
Oettl made a few brilliant saves in the second half turning aside the three shots he saw in the final 45 minutes. The Bulls outshot the Knights in the second half 10-8, but the UCF defense refused to budge.
The win over the Bulls gives the Knights a 9-0 lead in the all-sports War On I-4 Series. UCF volleyball contributed the first three points of the series before UCF men's soccer added six on Saturday night. The Black and Gold have now earned victories in back to back seasons over the Bulls, both on the road.
With their 10th win of the season, UCF clinched a spot in the American Athletic Conference championship tournament at the end of the season. The Knights are currently in first place with a record of 4-0-1 in the conference with two American matchups remaining. They are the only team to this point without a conference loss.
UP NEXT
The Knights will return home for their final homestand of the regular season as they host Stetson on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. UCF will then wrap up their home slate as they host Memphis on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.
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