| UCF at South Florida Wednesday, September 29, 7 p.m. ET WATCH (ESPN+) | LIVE STATS |
ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF men's soccer team is set to head west for this season's first instalment of the War On I-4 and will face the Bulls on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The Knights have won their last three matches, scoring four or more goals in each match. UCF hosted Temple on Friday, scoring within the first 15 minutes of the match for the third straight contest. Gino Vivi and Nick Taylor had multi-point performances against the Owls, with Vivi collecting a pair of helpers and Taylor scoring a goal and tallying an assist to stay atop the national leaderboard. Alessandro Campoy opened the scoring in the 13th minute thanks to a beautiful pass in front from Vivi. After a late first-half goal from Temple, Lucca Dourado got on the board in the 53rd minute off a perfectly threaded pass from Taylor to retake the lead. Taylor scored his first goal as a Knight 22 minutes later to put the match on ice. Gianluca Arcangeli also scored his first goal of the campaign, sliding the ball into the net off a Vivi pass.
The Black and Gold's offense is ranked as one of the best in the country as they're tied for second in the country in goals scored per match, scoring an even three per game. They trail only UNC Greensboro for the national lead who have scored 3.11 goals per match. UCF is fourth in the country in points per match, twelfth in corner kicks per match, 15th in shots on goal per match and 20th in shot attempts per match.
The Knights were one of the top scoring offenses in 2018 and 2019, ranked nationally in the top 10 in multiple scoring categories before falling to 69th in the shorter 2020-21 season.
South Florida enters the match with a 2-4-1 overall record and are winless through two matches in American Athletic Conference play. The Bulls started the season with a 4-1 win against Jacksonville before going scoreless in their next three matches. South Florida has had a fairly tough schedule to begin their 2021 season, falling to No. 4 Clemson on the road 3-0 before getting beat by No. 9 Tulsa 5-2 and No. 7 SMU 2-0 to start conference play.
Henrique Gallina, Gabrielle Privitera and Andres Freire all have two goals for the Bulls and are responsible for six of their nine scores. Ralph Montero has started in five of South Florida's seven matches, earning .429 save percentage with a 2.16 goals allowed average.
The Knights have been victorious in three of the last four meetings with their rival to the West. UCF earned victories over the Bulls in 2018 and 2019 on the road before splitting the season series in 2020-21. Wednesday will be the first of two meetings between the sides with the finale taking place in Orlando on Oct. 27.
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