ORLANDO – The UCF men’s soccer team is set for its first Sun Belt Conference match of the fall season against the No. 21 James Madison Dukes on the heels of its 0-0 draw with the South Florida Bulls in its non-conference finale Sept. 15.
The strong defensive push clinched the Black and Gold (2-1-3) their first clean sheet of the 2024 season.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Shane Wright recorded the first shutout of his collegiate career, facing 12 shot attempts while making two saves. Since his collegiate debut in the Knights’ matchup with Wake Forest Aug. 31, Wright has faced 56 shot attempts while making 15 saves in his first four collegiate appearances.
Wright made a pair of second-half saves to lower his personal goals-against average to 1.50 through four matches, and drop the Knights’ respective mark to 1.33 through their first six contests. The goalie ranks fourth in the Sun Belt Conference in saves per game and 68th nationally with an average of 3.75 per match.
Offensively, UCF notched 12 total shot attempts, with three on goal throughout the contest against the Bulls, courtesy of Anderson Rosa, Alex Smith and Yanis Belatrache.
Fifth-year forward Lucca Dourado enters Saturday’s action on the verge of joining an exclusive club of program legends, as he is just shy of 40 career goals. With a career total of 38, Dourado needs just two more to become the fifth player in program history to reach the 40-goal plateau. Clarence Awoudor and Emmanuel Bam, meanwhile, lead the team with nine and eight points, respectively.
UCF wraps up its non-conference schedule with just one defeat in six contests and will now look ahead to the commencement of Sun Belt Conference play with a road tilt against the James Madison Dukes Saturday evening.
UCF is looking to go undefeated in its Sun Belt opener for the second straight year, following the then-No. 5 Knights' draw against then-No. 4 West Virginia in the 2023 Sun Belt opener, a contest that represented the first top five matchup in program history.
In their 2023 season, the Black and Gold posted a 6-2-1 record in Sun Belt Conference play, headlined by a season-long six-match win streak. Of the Knights’ 19 goals against conference opponents, six were scored by Dourado, three by 2023 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year Saku Heiskanen, and three from junior forward Clarence Awoudor.
Both UCF and James Madison began the 2024 season ranked within the United Soccer Coaches preseason top 25 poll, UCF at No. 19 and the Dukes at No. 18. This season, James Madison began the 2024 season with a 2-0-3 mark through its first five matches, most recently with a 2-0 win against the Liberty Eagles, scored by Yanis Lelin and Luca Nikolai. The winning effort ensured the Dukes went unbeaten through five matches in the season for the second consecutive year and third time in the last five seasons.
The Dukes-Knights all-time series historically has a 2-1-0 James Madison lead in three matches following the last matchup Oct. 31, 2023.
In their last matchup, sophomore transfer Clarence Awoudor collected a quick redirect, and dribbled a few paces before letting a right-footed shot loose from outside the box. The ball sailed past James Madison netminder Sebastian Conlon, giving UCF a one-goal lead in just the seventh minute of play.
The Dukes broke through in the 72nd minute to tie the match and added the go-ahead score in the 88th minute and snapped UCF’s six-game win streak and sent the Knights to just their second loss of their 2023 fall campaign.
James Madison returned from a road trip to host UCF in its fourth home game of the season. Kickoff for the match is slated for 7:30 p.m. from Sentara Park in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and will be streamed on ESPN+.
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