Just over five minutes later, fellow fifth year Anderson Rosa sent a long pass toward the Bears goal from near halfway to midfield. A Mercer defender tangled with Knights fifth year defender Jonas Fritschi, who drew not only a Bears foul, but an awarded penalty kick as a result as well.
Awoudor, the reigning Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year, was tasked by Calabrese to handle the job, and he did so with ease, swatting the ball inside the left goalpost to double UCF’s advantage in the 22nd minute on his first career penalty kick attempt.
“It’s a relief to get the first win,” Calabrese added. “It feels good, you build some confidence in that, in the way we played. In different parts of the game, you can take away a lot of positives from that, and there are things that we can always do better. But it feels good to get the first one.”
In earning their second consecutive season-opening victory, UCF played airtight defense on the other end for the majority of the evening as well, yielding only the late Bears score in the 89th minute of action on three total shots on goal.
Knights junior netminder Juanvi Muñoz represented the team’s needed steady presence between the posts from the game’s opening whistle, making a pair of key saves in the match’s duration, including a diving stop with his right hand to thwart a second-half Bears chance with just under 22 minutes to play.
In allowing only one score Thursday, Muñoz, who entered the match in control of 10th place on the Knights’ all-time goals against average list with a career mark of 1.29, surrendered one or fewer goals for the 18th time in 29 career appearances spanning his two-plus year career.
“There is a lot of belief in the team, clearly in the way we came out,” Calabrese continued. “This will add to that belief. Now we have another challenge in Seattle, a top 25 ranked team. We’re going to do everything we can to recover physically to be ready for what will be another difficult challenge.”
UP NEXT
With a season-opening victory under its belt, the No. 19 UCF men’s soccer team will have a quick turnaround for its next contest, a Sunday evening matchup with the No. 23 Seattle Redhawks fresh off a 4-1 victory of their own over the South Florida Bulls in Tampa Thursday evening.
Kickoff for the contest is slated for 5 p.m. from the UCF Soccer Complex and will be streamed on ESPN+.
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