| UC Riverside vs. UCF Mon., Sep. 5, 3:00 p.m. WATCH (ESPN+) | LIVE STATS | TICKETS |
ORLANDO – The UCF men's soccer team is back in action at home on Monday as it hosts UC Riverside at 3 p.m.
The Knights come into the match with a 1-1 record to this point and recently tallied a come from behind victory against North Florida with a final of 2-1. The Black and Gold's most recent match against FGCU on Sep. 2 was abandoned in the 39th minute of play due to lightning in the area, resulting in a no contest.
Monday's match against the Ospreys was scoreless after the first 45 minutes of play and saw North Florida with a 7-2 shot advantage. The Knights flipped the script in the first half. Despite allowing the opening goal in the 54th minute, UCF rallied back thanks to a goal by Maël Haise in the 64th minute and a score by Mauricio Villalobos Vega in the 76th. The Black and Gold outshot the Ospreys in the second half by a count of 12-6 en route to the comeback. Freshman goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz continued his stellar play in net, tallying seven saves.
UC Riverside enters the match with a 1-2 record on the season, with a pair of road losses to Utah Valley and Jacksonville with their lone win coming at home against St. Thomas. The Highlanders wrap up their Florida trip on Monday after facing Jacksonville on Friday, a 4-1 final in favor of the Dolphins. The two sides were tied at the end of the first half but it was Jacksonville who prevailed at the end of the contest thanks to three second half goals. Stetson will be UC Riverside's third straight Florida opponent, but the match will be played back in the Highlander's home stadium.
Noah Lopez currently leads the way in scoring for UC Riverside after earning a goal and two assists so far. Oscar Penate was named First Team All-Big West and led the Highlanders in scoring in 2021, recording five goals and two assists for 12 points. Carlos Gonzalez has started all three of UC Riverside's matches in 2022, making eight saves with a 2.33 goals against average and .533 save percentage.
The Knights and Highlanders have only met once before, a 1-0 UCF victory on Sep. 20, 2002 in a neutral site contest. The Black and Gold haven't hosted a team from California since 2018 when they faced UC Irvine on Aug. 27, 2018, a match that resulted in a 1-0 overtime loss. UCF will visit UC Irvine on Friday, their first trip out West since Aug. 26, 2016 in Arizona against Grand Canyon. The Knights also played Portland and Oregon State on the road in 2014 but haven't been to the state of California for a match since 2012 when they faced Cal and UC Davis.
Monday's contest is one of just two home matches for UCF in the month of September. The Knights won't return to the UCF Soccer Complex until Sep. 30 for a conference matchup against FAU. The Black and Gold will visit UC Irvine (Sep. 9), Temple (Sep. 17) and Memphis (Sep. 24) before playing another match in Orlando.
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