WILSON, N.C. – The No. 18 UCF men's soccer team advanced to their second straight Sweet 16 as they earned a 2-1 victory over No. 17 James Madison in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday evening.
"I thought the guys were fantastic tonight," said head coach Scott Calabrese. "We did well in every facet of the game that we wanted to play well and perform well in. I thought we played really well tonight and I think that is part of why we as a group are as happy as we are. We got the result, we're going to the Sweet 16, but on top of it we executed at the level we wanted to."
The Knights got on the scoreboard before everyone could get settled into their seats. Gino Vivi received a cross in the fourth minute from Lucca Dourado and found a way to score the opener, giving UCF the early lead.
The goal was the earliest UCF has scored in match this season, coming at the 3:47 mark. It's the quickest goal the Knights have collected since Oct. 12 of 2019 when Louis Perez scored 1:25 in at home against Tulsa.
No other goals came in the first frame as UCF outshot the Dukes 5-3 and had a 2-0 edge in corners.
Both teams stormed out of the halftime gates, creating multiple chances. James Madison equalized in the 51st minute as they cashed in off a set piece.
UCF wasted no time answering and scored a beautiful goal of their own roughly five minutes later. Vivi worked his way from one side of the pitch to the other and dumped the ball off to Mauricio Villalobos Vega, who fed a beautiful cross just past a defender to an awaiting Dourado, who chested the chance home to put the Knights in front.
World class ??#ChargeOn ?? #NCAASoccer pic.twitter.com/EbPRCs3V1x
— UCF Men's Soccer (@UCF_MSoccer) May 2, 2021
Dourado has scored in each of UCF's last three matches and in four of the last five. The rookie, who scored a goal and an assist on the evening, has been finding his rhythm in the late goings. He was the only one to score for the Knights during the American Athletic Conference tournament.
The lead remained in the hands of the Black and Gold for the rest of the match. James Madison had a few dangerous chances late but couldn't make anything of them.
The victory sends UCF to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. The Knights hand the Dukes their first loss of the season, sending them to 5-1-3. The Black and Gold defeated another unbeaten team to advance to their first Sweet 16 in program history in 2019, topping Missouri State 2-1 in overtime.
James Madison had only surrendered two goals all season, but the Knights were able to tally two of their own in just 90 minutes. The victory against the Dukes is the first in UCF's history, leveling the all-time record at 1-1, with the prior match taking place in 1990.
A few key trends came to fruition in this one. UCF remains unbeaten when scoring first and taking a lead into the halftime break and are now 8-0-1 and 7-0-0 respectively. The Knights improve to a perfect 6-0-0 when scoring more than one goal in a match and are now 3-0-0 when tallying their first goal in the first 15 minutes.
After a 1-3 start, UCF has now gone unbeaten in their last nine matches and are just one of 16 teams left playing Division I men's soccer.
UP NEXT
The Knights will face No. 2 nationally seeded Pitt in the Round of 16 on Thursday at 3 p.m. on WakeMed Soccer Field No. 4 in Cary, N.C. It will be the first time the two programs meet on the soccer pitch. Pitt defeated Monmouth 6-1 to advance to their first Sweet 16.
FOLLOW THE KNIGHTS
Follow UCF Men's Soccer on social media on Facebook (/UCFMensSoccer), Twitter (@UCF_MSoccer) and Instagram (@UCF.MSoccer).
GET THE APP
Never miss any UCF Knights news from your favorite team by downloading the free UCF Knights app right to your iOS or Android phone. The app provides personalized information for men's and women's teams, scores, schedules, loyalty programs and even breaking news. Click here to download the app now.