UCF Drops Regular Season Finale 2-1 at #5 TulsaUCF Drops Regular Season Finale 2-1 at #5 Tulsa

UCF Drops Regular Season Finale 2-1 at #5 Tulsa

TULSA, Okla. – The UCF men's soccer team was narrowly edged by No. 5 Tulsa on Friday night, ending the regular season on a three-match losing streak.

"The players worked extremely hard and played with the right intensity," said head coach Scott Calabrese. "We needed to be better when we won the ball and we need to be more in sync when we arrive in the final third. We need to be more decisive with our movement. Now, we have an entirely new season. We have one game ahead of us and that is against Memphis on Wednesday."

The Knights put themselves in a great position early as Lucca Dourado buried his 12th goal of the season from the top of the box in the 10th minute. Dourado gave the ball off to Nick Taylor from beyond midfield which allowed Taylor to sprint forward on a fast break. Taylor found Dourado just outside of the 18-yard box for his ninth assist of the season, moving up to a tie of eighth place on UCF's single-season assists leader board. Taylor is now three shy of tying the record of 12.

UCF goalkeeper Bernardo Brandao, who made his collegiate debut in the contest, made a big save in the 43rd minute, stopping a point-blank chance to keep the shutout alive before the break.

At the halfway point, UCF had a 4-3 lead in shot attempts and saw corners even at one apiece. It was just the first time this season that Tulsa had trailed at the half.

The second half was a different story out of the gate as Tulsa came out firing. They got on the board in the 57th minute on a free kick from nearly 30 yards out. The ball cleared the wall of Knights, took a bounce and was headed in by Til Zinnhardt. Moments later, Tulsa was awarded a penalty kick in the 60th minute and converted as Henry Sach gave his team the 2-1 lead. Prior to the match, UCF had not given up a penalty kick all season.

When the final whistle blew, Tulsa had outshot the Black and Gold 11-4 in the second half and led the Knights by total count of 14-8. The Golden Hurricane finish the season 13-1-1, with the lone loss coming at the hands of UCF in October in Orlando. The Black and Gold finish the regular season campaign with an 8-7 record.

UCF was 4-0-0 heading into tonight's match when scoring within the first 15 minutes of the contest, 7-2-0 when scoring first and 5-1-0 when leading at the half.

With the rest of the teams in the American Athletic Conference finishing their regular season matches, the postseason bracket is now set. The Knights are locked in as the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will face third seeded Memphis in the semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 10. The winner of that match will face the tournament's host Tulsa or the fourth seeded Mustangs of SMU. Both South Florida and Temple will miss postseason play.

The Black and Gold have qualified for the conference's postseason tournament in all nine seasons they've been a part of The American. They have been a top two seed in the last five tournaments.

UP NEXT
UCF will face Memphis in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship on Nov. 10 in Tulsa, Okla. at 5:30 p.m. ET.

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