UCF Topples Undefeated #6 Tulsa in 3-2 VictoryUCF Topples Undefeated #6 Tulsa in 3-2 Victory

UCF Topples Undefeated #6 Tulsa in 3-2 Victory

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ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF men's soccer team earned an important win over No. 6 Tulsa on Sunday night, earning a 3-2 victory to propel themselves to the top of the American Athletic Conference table. The Knights are responsible for the Golden Hurricane's first loss of the season as they entered the match with an unblemished record of 9-0-0.

"It was an incredible performance from the group," said head coach Scott Calabrese. "Especially the beginning of that second half where we really came alive. Tulsa came in here with so much confidence, they're such a good team and are on an incredible run. Our circumstances were that we were coming off a difficult result, so to see our guys have the mental strength and toughness to really get back to this incredible standard that they set in that second half is phenomenal. I'm so proud of the group, there was such a good energy in the team for this game, everybody was ready and felt confident and felt like we would perform really well and get a result tonight."

UCF and Tulsa's offense came into the nation ranked eighth in goals scored per game, averaging 2.67 goals a match. That wasn't the story of the first half though as both defenses were outstanding in the first 45. Each side had some chances before the halftime whistle blew as shot attempts were tied at 6-6.

The Knights' offense came out of the half on fire, immediately taking it to Tulsa. Their efforts were rewarded almost instantly as UCF found the opener in the 51st minute from the sliding foot of Nick Taylor off a great feed from Mauricio Villalobos Vega. Caleb Franke also earned an assist on the play, tallying his first point as a Knight since arriving in Orlando as an FIU transfer for the 2020-21 campaign.

The Black and Gold kept the pressure on and doubled their lead almost instantly. Taylor was involved in the scoring again, this time curling a perfect ball for Ariel Hadar in the 56th minute. Hadar sprinted toward the net and dove headfirst to tuck the ball home for his third goal of the season and tally Taylor's eighth assist of the campaign, tying him with seven other Knights for 10th on UCF's single season assists leaderboard. Eric Vasquez and Farid Guediri sit atop that leaderboard, earning 12 assists in 2003 and 1975 respectively.

The scoring continued, but this time it was for the opposite side as Tulsa's Tom Protzek was able to convert on a free kick, punching it by Tyler Lavigne to cut the Golden Hurricane deficit in half in the 61st minute.

The action packed second half was far from over as the Knights added another goal to the scoreboard, this time coming from Lucca Dourado in front. The goal was Dourado's 10th of the season, coming on the 10th day of the 10th month of the year. He now trails the NCAA's scoring leader, NIU's Nick Markanich, by just two goals, needing three to climb to the top of college soccer in scoring. Villalobos was the one to slip Dourado in as he earned his second assist of the contest and third of the season. The two-assist performance is the second of the UCF captain's career, with the previous time coming on the road against FGCU in 2019. Gino Vivi was responsible for a quick touch to get Villalobos the ball, earning him his fourth assist and eighth point of the year.

Tulsa responded in the 83rd minute with a goal as Malik Henry-Scott rifled one at Lavigne in net, causing a juicy rebound that was collected and shot once again by Henry-Scott. Lavigne dove for it and got a big enough chunk to slow the ball down, but it wound up trickling in to trim the UCF advantage back to one.

Lavigne had to make one more save in the final two minutes of the match to preserve the Knight lead, earning him a new career high in saves in a match. He turned away six Tulsa shots by the time the final horn sounded, improving his record to 5-1 in net with a .654 save percentage.

UCF has scored three or more goals in five of their last six matches, dating back to their 6-2 win over FGCU on Sep. 11. Their goals per game has climbed back up to 2.7 after being tied for the national lead at an even three goals a game heading into October. The Knights, under the guidance of Coach Calabrese, have been extremely good in the month of October, going 16-1-3 since his arrival in 2017. The only loss in the month of October was UCF's loss to Memphis this season on Oct. 3.

Sunday's victory over Tulsa was the first of the season over a top 10 opponent and the first since Mar. 13 when UCF marched into Dallas and beat No. 9 SMU 2-0. The Black and Gold are now 1-1 against top 10 opponents this season after falling in a tight 2-1 contest to No. 10 Virginia Tech on Sep. 3. Facing top opposition is nothing new for the Knights as they have faced at least two top 10 teams in each of the last three seasons.

UCF has won five of its last seven meetings with Tulsa, improving the all-time record against the Golden Hurricane to 6-12-3.

Tulsa had entered the match with a perfect 9-0-0 overall record with four of those wins coming in conference play. For of the Golden Hurricane's victories had been over top 25 teams, beating No. 8 Missouri State, No. 9 Marquette, No. 12 SMU and No. 24 Michigan State.

The Black and Gold are once again tied at the top of The American table with Tulsa, both teams boasting a 4-1 conference record. SMU and Memphis trail the leaders, each with a 3-2 mark in conference play.

UP NEXT
The Knights will pay a visit to No. 10 SMU on Saturday, renewing one of the newest and fiercest rivalries in college soccer at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

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