| South Florida vs. RV UCF Wednesday, October 27, 6 p.m. ET WATCH (ESPN+) | LIVE STATS | TICKETS |
ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF men's soccer team is set to host South Florida in the final War On I-4 meeting on the pitch this season, facing the Bulls on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
The Knights are coming off their third straight victory as they triumphed over Temple 3-0. Tyler Lavigne earned his first solo clean sheet and tied a career high by making six saves in the match. His performance tabbed him as the American Athletic Conference's Goalkeeper of the Week, the second time this year he has been honored. Lucca Dourado recorded the quickest goal scored by a member of the Black and Gold this season, burying what went on to be the deciding goal just 3:35 into the contest. Dourado is tied for the national lead in game winning goals with six on the campaign. He is second in the country in goals per game, averaging a goal each time on the pitch. Gino Vivi picked up the assist on Dourado's goal, sending a beautiful corner right into the box for him. Vivi ended up having a night to remember, tallying the remaining two goals of the evening for UCF. It was Vivi's third multi-goal game of his career, his last coming on the road against Memphis in the final game of the 2020-21 regular season, helping the Knights win their third straight regular season conference title.
UCF is in the running to earn a fourth straight regular season conference crown, tied at the top of The American table with Tulsa, both teams boasting a 6-1 conference record, good enough for 18 points. Both teams clinched a spot in The American's postseason tournament with their results on Friday, but seeding is still up for grabs. The Black and Gold could lock up a top two seed with a win and an SMU loss on Wednesday.
South Florida is still mathematically in the running to make the postseason tournament but are currently on the outside looking in with a record of 2-5 and six points, just a win behind Memphis who currently holds the fourth and final seed in the tournament.
Despite a tough 4-7-1 overall record, the Bulls have won two of their last three matches, beating Temple 3-0 on the road and earning a 2-1 win over Memphis at home. South Florida is just 1-3-1 on the road this season, their lone win being the victory against Temple in Philadelphia.
Henrique Gallina leads the Bulls in scoring, collecting three goals and eight points so far this season. Shion Soga is tied for the lead in points on the team, scoring two goals and collecting four assists. Kazuna Takase will likely be in net for South Florida, a goalkeeper that performed brilliantly his last time in Orlando against the Knights. Takase made 11 saves in on Feb. 20 of the 2020-21 season, stunning the Black and Gold at home that night. That effort landed Takase in the UCF record books as it was the fourth highest number of saves made at the UCF Soccer Complex in its history. Vivi had eight shot attempts that night which also went down in the record books, marking the third highest shot attempts from a single player in the venue's history. Takase has allowed six goals in five matches this season, good enough for a 1.27 goals allowed average and an .800 save percentage.
The last War On I-4 meeting resulted in a UCF win as Ariel Hadar scored UCF's first two goals, one on each side of halftime. South Florida responded to cut the lead to 2-1 before Dourado scored what went on to be the game winner. The Bulls added a late goal but couldn't find the equalizer as the Knights won their fourth match in their last five tries against the Bulls.
The War On I-4 is currently tied between the two school's athletic departments at 6-6. The men's soccer team came away with three points in the first meeting of the season between the two long time rivals. South Florida's women's soccer team topped UCF 2-1 in double overtime in their only meeting in the regular season, giving them the full six points for the sport. UCF volleyball earned a 3-0 win on Oct. 13, earning another three points for the Black and Gold. Since 2012, the Knights' volleyball program is on a 17-match winning streak against South Florida, not having lost to the Bulls in 3,348 days.
UCF has been victorious in each of the first five all-sports competitions, completing the five-peat with a 59.25 to 24.75 victory for the 2020-21 year.
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