| North Florida vs. UCF Mon., Aug. 29, 7:00 p.m. WATCH (ESPN+) | LIVE STATS | TICKETS |
ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF men's soccer team is set for its home opener as the Knights host North Florida on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.
The Black and Gold were beat by No. 15 Wake Forest in their first match of the season. After a scoreless first frame, the Demon Deacons netted the game's only goal in the 48th minute, a header that just slipped past the UCF defense. The freshman goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz made five saves on the night.
The Knights dropped their fourth consecutive season opening match. That's not necessarily bad news though, as UCF has gone on some incredible runs after a slow start to their last three seasons. 2019 saw the Black and Gold start 1-1-1 before going on a 14-match unbeaten streak while 2020-21 saw the Knights go unbeaten in their next nine matches after a 1-3 start. Both times saw UCF reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, their only two appearances in program history. 2021 also saw the Knights get out to a 1-3 start; they proceeded to win seven of eight following and make a run to The American title match, falling by a goal to No. 2 Tulsa.
Monday's matchup will be the 14th all-time meeting between the Knights and Ospreys, with UCF leading the series 8-5. Five of UCF's eight wins over the Ospreys have been clean sheets with the Knights outscoring North Florida 30-12 over the series' entirety. The two sides met in 2021 after not playing against one another since 2016. The Black and Gold came away with a 5-0 victory, snapping what was a four-game losing skid against North Florida, dating back to 2013-2016. Lucca Dourado had a pair of goals while Gino Vivi, Lucas Mauro and Josiah Ramirez added goals of their own in the 5-0 result.
The Ospreys also began their season with a loss, dropping a 1-0 decision to Georgia State. The match wound up being rained out on Thursday night, pushing it to a 9 a.m. ET start time on Friday. Padraic Gilley got the nod in goal for North Florida, stopping three shots and allowing the lone goal of the match. Gilley started in most matches for his team last year, going 3-5 with two clean sheets along with a 1.71 goals allowed average and a .632 save percentage.
North Florida finished the 2021 season with a record of 4-8-1, missing the A-SUN tournament. Joaquin Acuna led the way in the scoring column for the Ospreys, netting five goals for a team high 10 points.
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