UCF Visits #5 Tulsa to Conclude Regular Season

ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF men's soccer team is set to wrap up its 2021 regular season slate with a visit to No. 5 Tulsa on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

The Knights are coming off tough back-to-back losses at home. After dropping a tight 4-3 contest in overtime to South Florida, the Knights dropped their regular season home finale, falling 5-0 to SMU.

The Knights have been road warriors this season, winning four of five road contests and four of six including neutral sites. UCF has won their last four road matches, the previous two being a 2-1 comeback victory against then-No. 24 SMU and a 3-0 win at Temple. The Knights have outscored their opponents 12-4 in those past four road matches.

UCF has had Tulsa's number in recent history, coming away with a victory in five of the last seven meetings between the two sides. The Knights have handed the Golden Hurricane their only loss of the season to this point, topping Tulsa 3-2 back on Oct. 10. Eight of the previous 10 meetings have been decided by a goal or less, including five of the last six. Tulsa has won every home match they've played so far, going 7-0-0 at the Hurricane Soccer & Track Complex.

Alex Meinhard leads the Golden Hurricane in goals with 12 and has collected 26 points. Behind him is Malik Henry-Scott, scoring seven times and tallying two assists. Alex Lopez has been the primary man between the posts, playing in 13 matches and earning a .750 save percentage and a 0.84 goals allowed average.

UCF will either be the two or three seed in the American Athletic Conference Championship. The Knights have punched their ticket to a ninth consecutive tournament and can be a top two seed for the fifth straight campaign.

They can clinch the two seed with a win at Tulsa, an SMU loss or with a draw and an SMU draw or loss.  SMU can clinch the number two seed with a win over Memphis paired with a UCF loss. The Mustangs would remain the third seed with a draw and would fall to fourth with a loss to Memphis. Memphis can remain in fourth with a draw or a loss paired with a South Florida draw or loss. South Florida is currently sitting three points outside the cut line and need to beat Temple and have Memphis lose to rise to the fourth and final seed.

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