No. 10 Men's Soccer To Conclude Non-Conference Slate Against South FloridaNo. 10 Men's Soccer To Conclude Non-Conference Slate Against South Florida

No. 10 Men's Soccer To Conclude Non-Conference Slate Against South Florida

by Ryan Ladika

ORLANDO – Looking to bounce back from the squad’s first loss of the fall campaign, the No. 10 UCF men’s soccer team is set to conclude its non-conference slate back at home against a familiar foe in the South Florida Bulls Sunday evening.

The Knights (2-1-2) most recently battled through a hard-fought 4-3 loss in the team’s first road tilt of the season in Miami against the FIU Panthers, a contest that snapped the Black and Gold’s season-opening four-match unbeaten streak.

UCF’s 2-0-2 record through its first four matches represented the second time in as many seasons the program began a season undefeated through at least four contests, after it started the 2023 slate unbeaten through six with a 4-0-2 mark before falling by a narrow 1-0 score at then-No. 1 Marshall Sept. 23.

MS_CK_90ea_082124_21233349077Clarence Awoudor, Anderson Rosa, Joey Mueller, Lucca Dourado, Emmanuel Bam, Yanis Belatrache, Gwendal Degorce, Ousmane Ba | Photo by: Conor Kvatek

On the back of its strong start to the new season, the Knights climbed to the No. 10 national ranking in the latest United Soccer Coaches top 25 poll released Tuesday afternoon, representing the first time this fall UCF has cracked the national top 10.

The Black and Gold spent nine consecutive weeks within the organization’s top 10 last season, beginning with their No. 6 spot in week two Sept. 5 that later became a unanimous No. 1 national ranking in Week 10, representing the first No. 1 national ranking in a regular-season poll in UCF athletics history.

Despite the team’s first loss of the fall Wednesday, the Knights still managed to produce their second consecutive three-plus-goal showing and their third game with at least three scores in the squad’s first five matches to begin the season.

Clarence Awoudor and Emmanuel Bam both tallied their respective third goals of the season in the match’s first half before fifth year defender Jonas Fritschi recorded the first goal of his collegiate career in the second stanza.

With the two first-half scores by Awoudor and Bam, the duo recorded the third match in the team’s first five that has seen both find the back of the net, joining the Black and Gold’s season-opening 3-1 win over the Mercer Bears Aug. 22 and the Knights’ 5-1 victory over the UC Irvine Anteaters Sept. 6.

Men's Soccer_CK_90ea_090624_20181853661Drew Hansen, Emmanuel Bam | Photo by: Conor Kvatek

The teammates, now with three goals and three assists, and three goals and two assists, respectively, enter Sunday’s action both ranking within the top seven in the Sun Belt Conference in goals per game, points per game, total goals and total points.

Awoudor represents the Knights’ leading scorer through the team’s first five matches, as his three goals and three assists give the junior transfer a total of nine points, good for a share of fifth most in the conference. He leads a Knights offense that has now seen eight players score at least one goal, including Fritschi, Drew Hansen, Sora Funakoshi and Carlos Rojas who have all scored for the first time at the Division I level this fall.

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Shane Wright turned in another strong showing Wednesday as well in the face of a relentless FIU attack. Facing 20 total shot attempts and 12 on goal, the Orlando native made a new single-game career high eight saves in just his third collegiate match.

Wright now enters his fourth match Sunday with 13 total saves under his belt, tied for the fourth most in the Sun Belt to accompany his now 4.33 saves per game, a mark that ranks tied for second most in the league.

In South Florida, the Knights will face their longtime rival from their 10 seasons spent as members of the American Athletic Conference from 2013-2022. UCF has prevailed in four of its last seven meetings with the Bulls since 2018, registering a 4-3-0 record in that span. The Black and Gold on Sunday will look to snap a two-game skid in the series and notch their first win over South Florida since Sept. 29, 2021, a 3-2 victory in Tampa.

The Bulls, like UCF, enter Sunday’s tilt with just one loss on their ledger. The team has gone unbeaten in five of its first six matches of the fall slate, producing wins over Eckerd College, 2-0, and UC Irvine, 2-1, and drawing with Mercer, 0-0, UNC Wilmington, 1-1, and FGCU, 3-3, to factor into its overall 2-1-3 record.

South Florida’s lone defeat thus far came at the hands of the then-No. 23 Seattle Redhawks by a 4-1 final score, a team with which the Knights played to a 1-1 draw Aug. 25.

The Bulls are led offensively by junior midfielder Lovro Kostanjšek, owner of two goals and two assists for a team-best six points through six matches. Senior forward Gunnar Studenhofft represents the Bulls’ other multi goal-scorer, with two scores and one helper.

Graduate student goalkeeper Felix Schaefer has handled all 540 minutes between the posts for South Florida, meanwhile, having allowed one or fewer goals in four of his team’s first six contests. His two shutouts, coming against Mercer and Eckerd College, rank tied for first in The American and tied for 20th in the nation overall.

Kickoff for the match is slated for 5 p.m. from the UCF soccer Complex and will be streamed on ESPN+.

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