| Memphis vs. UCF Sunday, October 3, 6 p.m. ET WATCH (ESPN+) | LIVE STATS | TICKETS |
ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF men's soccer team returns home for a two-match homestand, starting with the season finale against Memphis on Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Knights are looking to pick up their fifth straight victory after winning the last four by scoring three goals or more in each match. The Black and Gold have outscored their opponents 17-6 over that winning streak and have propelled themselves into a tie of the nation's lead for goals per match, averaging an even three goals per game this season. On top of being tied for the national lead in scoring, UCF is third in points per game, tied for tenth in assists per game and tied for 11th in corners per game.
Lucca Dourado and Nick Taylor's names are sprinkled all over the tops of the national leaderboards. Dourado is first in the country in goals per game (1.28) and in game-winning goals (4). He is second in points per game (2.71), third in total goals (9) and fourth in total points (19). Taylor is second in the country in assists with seven and third in the nation in assists per game, averaging 0.88 a match.
Dourado scored the final goal, which stood to be the game winner in a 3-2 victory against South Florida. He also tallied an assist, coming on an Ariel Hadar goal. Hadar scored the first two goals of the match for the Knights, collecting his first two tallies of the season. Kevin Andrews and Yanis Leerman also earned assists in the win over the Bulls.
The Black and Gold have won five straight matches against Memphis, outscoring the Tigers 12-3 in those contests. UCF owns a 14-7-4 lifetime record against Memphis, a team that enters the weekend with a 2-6-1 record and a 1-2 mark in conference. The Tigers won their last contest against Temple, bringing a 2-0 road victory back home with them. Memphis' only other match since falling to the Knights was a 1-0 loss to No. 8 Tulsa, who currently sits at the top of the conference along with UCF as the only two unbeaten teams in The American.
The Black and Gold have not lost a match in the month of October since head coach Scott Calabrese's arrival. In the three Octobers since his arrival, the Knights are a combined 15-0-3, going exactly 5-0-1 each time around.
It took Coach Calabrese just 75 matches to reach the 50-win mark at UCF as he owns a record of 50-17-8 since joining the Black and Gold for the 2017 season. He became the fastest head coach in program history to reach 50 victories, beating inaugural head coach Jim Rudy by a single game. It took Rudy 76 matches, five full seasons plus two matches at the beginning of his sixth season, to reach the 50-win milestone. Rudy coached at UCF for 14 seasons, guiding the program to a 139-62-17 record.
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