Temple vs. #5 UCF November 13, 2019, 7 P.M. |
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The No. 5 UCF men's soccer team is set to begin their journey in the American Athletic Conference championship tournament as the top-seeded Knights will host the fifth-seeded Temple Owls on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
The Knights earned a bye in the first round of the tournament as they earned the top seed by winning the regular season conference crown. UCF's first conference match this season was against Temple as the Black and Gold topped the Owls 2-0.
THE OPPONENT
Temple comes to Orlando with a record of 8-7-2 after completing an up and down season. The Owls began the season by losing five of their first seven matches but strung together four straight wins late in the season to pull back to .500.
The Owls got the best of the Memphis Tigers twice this season, handing them two 2-1 double overtime losses. Temple won both times on the road, picking up their first conference win of the season on Oct. 12 and knocked the Tigers out of the tournament in similar fashion on Saturday.
Lukas Fernandes leads Temple in points with 11 and has netted three goals to this point. He is tied with Sean Karani and Pierre Cayet for the goal scoring lead on the team. Those three Owls combined for nine goals, which is half of Temple's offense this season. The Knights are likely to see six-foot-nine goalkeeper Simon Lefebvre in net again as he brings a 0.95 goals against average and 0.750 save percentage into the match.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
UCF is seeking their first American championship tournament title and will look to do it against the Owls, who they have never faced in the tournament. The Knights have won back to back regular season crowns but have lost to SMU in the final in the past two seasons.
A win would give the Black and Gold their 14th win of the 2019 campaign which would be their second highest win total of all time. 1976 was the only year with more victories as the Knights posted a 15-1-1 record in just their second season of existence. In season number 45, UCF looks to shatter that and many more records.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Knights currently sit at No. 11 in the nation in goals scored per game with a mark of 2.31, which is just a tick behind the 2.32 average they posted last season which ranked fifth in the country. UCF still leads the country in corner kicks per match with a 7.88 clip. The Black and Gold have tallied 37 goals over the course of the season while Temple has collected just 18.
UCF has traded the last four matches with the Owls and lead the all-time series by a count of 3-2-2. The first two meetings resulted in draws; three of the next five matches were decided by one goal.
The Knights are more than happy to be hosting the conference tournament, as they have only lost twice at home since head coach Scott Calabrese's arrival. Overall, UCF has compiled a 20-2-5 record at home over the last three seasons.
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