Hansen's Brace Leads Men's Soccer over Kentucky, 2-1Hansen's Brace Leads Men's Soccer over Kentucky, 2-1

Hansen's Brace Leads Men's Soccer over Kentucky, 2-1

by Ryan Ladika
Box Score

ORLANDO – “We don’t have bench players,” stated Knights fifth year senior Anderson Rosa. “We have game-changers.”

Indeed, both goals and one assist during UCF’s latest win came courtesy of players outside head coach Scott Calabrese’s starting eleven, affirming the captain’s postgame declaration.

A brace by redshirt freshman Drew Hansen, the first of his collegiate career, coupled with another stingy showing on the defensive end by the collective group led the Black and Gold to a 2-1 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats at the UCF Soccer Complex Wednesday evening.

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The effort gave the Knights (5-4-3, 3-3-0 SBC) consecutive wins for the first time this fall, lifting the squad to .500 in conference play and back above even overall with its fifth win of the year. The squad also saw its point total in the Sun Belt table balloon to nine, leapfrogging the Wildcats’ (3-5-5, 2-2-2 SBC) eight to move into a tie for fourth place with South Carolina (9), behind West Virginia (16), Marshall (14) and James Madison (11).

UCF also extended its active win streak over Kentucky to four consecutive matches dating back to the 2011 season, outscoring the Wildcats by an aggregate 6-2 in that span.

“To start the game, Kentucky’s intensity was very high, and we didn’t match it initially. We made a few substitutions, and you saw immediately there was a change and a goal as a result of some really hard work. To go to the second half, the intensity and our willingness to be physical, that had to improve. Our guys answered that.”

Scott CalabreseHead Coach

The Knights surrendered the contest’s first goal in the 34th minute of action, though aid from the sideline arrived just minutes later.

Junior Clarence Awoudor, having corralled the ball near midfield, sent a long pass the way of sophomore Mouhamed Pouye as the latter entered the 18-yard box.

Pouye, one match removed from scoring the first goal of his collegiate career against Old Dominion Oct. 18, deflected the ball over the Kentucky goalkeeper as well as a defender to Hansen, who finished his team’s scoring chance with a header into an empty Wildcats net in the 39th minute.

The goal represented the second of Hansen’s career, and the first since his 45th-minute goal helped his team to a 1-1 draw with then-No. 23 Seattle Aug. 25. Pouye also earned the first assist of his career, and Awoudor, the Knights’ leading scorer, added one more point to his team-best total of 10 entering play.

“It was awesome, I was really excited. Pouye, Ousmane Ba and I in the first half when we were coming on, I was saying we need to bring energy. It was one of Pouye’s first touches; it was my first touch, and he assisted me. It was a really important game and a really good win for the team.”

Drew Hansenredshirt freshman

Coming out of the halftime pause deadlocked at one goal apiece, Hansen again capitalized on another prime offensive chance on Kentucky’s defensive end. Rosa, taking a corner kick from the near side, executed a quick give-and-go-style play with Awoudor before dribbling toward the Wildcats net.

He sent a pass toward Hansen stationed just above the near goalpost, who then deflected in what would later become the first game-winning goal of his young career to complete his first collegiate multi-goal match.

Rosa earned his fifth assist of the season, representing a new season high, and Awoudor, with his second assist of the match, pushed his team-leading point total to 12 with his first multi-assist match of the year and third of his career, joining the Knights’ 3-2 win at Georgia State Oct. 27, 2023 and Oregon State’s 3-2 win over Portland Oct. 14, 2022.

“I’m very proud of them. Both of them came from the bench today, Drew scored two goals and Pouye got an assist. I was very proud of the team. All 27 players we have are a family, and we can count on everybody.”

Anderson Rosaon Drew Hansen and Mouhamed Pouye

Goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz, in his third match since returning from a seven-game hiatus due to injury, produced the strong showing his team needed on the other end, making a trio of saves on four shots on goal-against.

The contest marked Muñoz’s second this season with at least three saves, and the Valencia, Spain, native, who entered the season with a goals-against average of 1.29, good for 10th-lowest in program history, saw it drop even further to 1.24 in his career and remain at an even 1.00 in 2024 with his fourth match with one or fewer goals allowed this fall.

“It was a much better performance in the second half,” Calabrese continued. “Kentucky’s an excellent team. We were able to take control of parts of the game, and of course it’s difficult to stop a team as good as Kentucky from having its moments too. The game became more even, we had some quality finishes out of Drew, and we were able to get the three points, which is so important for us.”

UP NEXT

The Knights will look for their third consecutive victory in their penultimate road match of the regular season Sunday evening, when the squad will visit the Georgia Southern Eagles in Statesboro, Georgia. Kickoff for the match is slated for 7 p.m. from Bo Pitts Field and will be streamed on ESPN+.

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