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No. 19 Men's Soccer Plays to 1-1 Draw with No. 23 Seattle

by Ryan Ladika
Box Score

ORLANDO – Through the squad’s first two matches of the still-young 2024 fall campaign, the No. 19 UCF men’s soccer team has set an early tone of showcasing and utilizing the squad’s depth beyond just the starting eleven.

The Knights have seen four different players score the team’s first four goals of the new season, 11 players notch at least one shot attempt, and 18 of the group’s 23 non-goalkeepers see match action.

 The latest to benefit from head coach Scott Calabrese’s early willingness to keep lineup rotations coming throughout the match was redshirt freshman forward Drew Hansen, who tallied the first goal of his collegiate career in helping the Knights pull out a 1-1 draw with the No. 23 Seattle Redhawks at the UCF Soccer Complex Sunday evening.

Hansen, who sat out the entirety of the 2023 slate and took a redshirt, has already played a significant role in the early stages of his first season on the pitch, totaling 88 minutes of action between the 19th-ranked Knights’ 3-1 win over Mercer Aug. 22 and Sunday’s draw.

“The running. You need players who are going to run into areas and threaten in front of the goal and behind the back line when they’re not 100 percent sure the ball’s going to come to them. That doesn’t surprise me that Drew is the guy on the end of that ball doing the selfless running, and then the ball comes to him. I think he has the capability to be a really successful goal-scorer.”

Scott CalabreseHead Coach

As the clock ticked down past 30 seconds to play in the first half of Sunday’s action, newcoming midfielder Javier López Sánchez booted a pass deep into the Redhawks’ defensive end from just inside midfield. Fifth year defender Anderson Rosa approached the corner and timed his touch on the other end, and after a few beats, sent a strong pass to the middle of the box with his left foot.

Hansen, off the bench just under 10 minutes earlier, saw his opportunity and didn’t waste it, timing his right-footed strike perfectly to send the ball past the Seattle goalkeeper and inside the left post with just 14 seconds remaining in the opening period.

“Redshirting last year, it was a long season for me. When I came in, there was a lot of growth and learning for me to do, and I grew so much. Thanks be to God that I was able to get out there and help the team. I adopted the mindset that I wanted to work harder than everyone else, and I try to be a better version of myself each day.”

Drew HansenRedshirt freshman forward

Seattle would later tie the affairs at one in the 65th minute, but another strong showing from junior goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz aided the Black and Gold in staving off a Redhawks go-ahead score, headlined by a critical save on Seattle’s penalty kick chance in the 79th minute.

“The most important thing is that we have to learn from the things that we’re doing early in the season. Juanvi has to learn from (the moment of Seattle’s goal) for sure, but then obviously an incredible penalty kick save after Timothy Arias goes and tries to win a ball and the referee judged that that was a penalty. He came up with a massive save.” Calabrese added.

Muñoz’s four key saves aided the Knights in limiting their opposition to just a single score for the second time in as many matches to begin the fall 2024 slate, and the goalkeeper has now surrendered one or fewer goals 19 times in 30 career appearances spanning his two-plus year career.

The draw also ensured that UCF remained unbeaten for the fourth time in five matches against ranked opponents since the start of the 2023 season. The Black and Gold kicked off the ‘23 campaign with a gritty 2-1 road victory over then-No. 9 Clemson Aug. 24, and since then have earned hard-fought draws with then-No. 4 West Virginia, then-No. 11 FIU and No. 23 Seattle.

“My message to the team was that it was a really difficult game,” Calabrese said of Sunday’s contest. “I was very happy that we played the game because they gave us significant problems that we had to deal with. There were things that really challenged us, and the important thing is we learned from it. When you play a team at that level that tests you, you’re going to have a better understanding going out for the next game, these are the things that we need to do better.”

UP NEXT

The No. 19 Knights get another chance at toppling a ranked opponent in their next match, when the squad will welcome the No. 15 Wake Forest Demon Deacons to Orlando Saturday, Aug. 31. Kickoff for the match is slated for 7 p.m. from the UCF Soccer Complex and will be streamed on ESPN+.

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