ORLANDO – The UCF men's soccer team is searching for its second consecutive win over a ranked opponent as they'll face No. 14 Tulsa on Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Knights topped No. 13 Charlotte their last time out, jumping out in front early with a Gino Vivi goal in the 12th minute. The 49ers didn't strike back until the 72nd minute, slipping one just inside the post to level the match at 1-1. The Black and Gold answered back on an incredible goal, as Vivi earned his third point of the night, lobbing a ball into the box near the end line that was headed back in play by Lucas Mauro to the awaiting Lucca Dourado who smashed the ball home on the volley. The goal checked in at No. 8 on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays the following day and it gave the Knights their first ranked win of the season by a final of 2-1.
UCF has just two matches remaining on its regular season slate. The Knights will head to Tulsa for their final road trip of the season before hosting South Florida in the final American Athletic Conference edition of the War On I-4 on Nov. 2. The Black and Gold will be transitioning to the Sun Belt Conference for men's soccer after this season but look to qualify for The American's postseason tournament for the 10th consecutive year, meaning they would have qualified in each year as a member of the league. A pair of wins to conclude the regular season will clinch a spot in the tournament.
Lucca Dourado continues to pace the nation in goals per game, averaging one a contest. He leads the conference in points per game with a clip of 2.00 and is second in the country in that category. UCF's striker continues to creep closer and closer to the 30-goal mark, now just two scores away from reaching the milestone. There have only been six members of the Black and Gold to reach 30 career goals in program history.
The Knights and Golden Hurricane faced each other six times during the calendar year of 2021, three in the spring and another three in the fall. All but one of those matches were decided by a goal. UCF and Tulsa split a pair of regular season matches and squared off in the 2020-21 conference championship match. The Black and Gold defended their home pitch, beating Tulsa 1-0 to hoist the program's first tournament title in The American. The script was flipped in the fall of 2021, as again the two teams split decisions in their regular season meetings, but it was the Golden Hurricane who defeated UCF in the championship match in Tulsa.
Tulsa enters the weekend with a record of 8-2-2, fresh off a 3-2 defeat over Temple. The Golden Hurricane are 4-2-1 in conference play, giving them 13 points. They are one of three teams with that exact record, creating a chaotic finish in the league table down the stretch. They currently sit second in the conference while UCF sits in sixth with a conference record of 3-4 for nine points. SMU is the only team locked into the postseason picture at this point, with each team in the league having just two matches to play. With some help, UCF could still finish as high as second in the conference but are unable to clinch a fourth regular season title as part of The American.
The Golden Hurricane protect home pitch well and have not lost a regular season home match in three seasons, tallying a 17-0-4 mark in that time, including a 5-0-1 record this season. Alex Meinhard leads the team in scoring with six goals and five assists for a total of 17 points. Malik Henry-Scott also has half a dozen goals on the campaign. Alex Lopez is the man expected to be between the posts for Tulsa, turning aside 31 shots in 2022 and has compiled a 0.90 goals allowed average.
UCF and Tulsa have split the last 10 meetings evenly, including an even share of the last six. Overall, Tulsa leads the all-time series 14-6-3.
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