ORLANDO – The UCF men’s soccer team is set for its regular-season home finale against the South Carolina Gamecocks Friday, Nov. 1, following its recent 2-0 road loss to the Georgia Southern Eagles Oct. 27.
In accompaniment with the Black and Gold’s final home tilt of the regular season and UCF’s scheduled Senior Night, the program will honor six Knights during a pregame ceremony: Lucca Dourado, Anderson Rosa, Emmanuel Bam, Ousmane Ba, Jonas Fritschi and student manager Carson Boyko.
UCF was coming off a two-game win streak prior to meeting the Eagles. Redshirt freshman Drew Hansen secured his first career brace against Kentucky, guiding the Knights to a 2-1 victory Oct. 23 after the Knights notched their second clean sheet of the campaign against Old Dominion Oct. 18.
With Hansen’s first career multi-goal game, he joined freshman Carlos Rojas as the first pair of UCF teammates to both record a brace in their respective first seasons playing with the Knights since at least 2011 (as far back as NCAA data is available).
In their match against Georgia Southern, the Black and Gold had a strong first half with an 8-1 advantage in shot attempts, led by Ba’s two. The Eagles later managed a pair of scores in the second half to claim the contest.
Dourado, in what could represent the final home match of his collegiate career, could collect one more milestone as well, as he enters Friday’s action tied for fifth on the UCF all-time career goals scored list with 39, and with his next tally would become the fifth player in program history to eclipse the 40 career goals scored mark.
Entering the regular season’s final two matches, UCF represents one of five teams within four points of third place in the Sun Belt table with nine points, trailing No. 7 West Virginia (17), No. 6 Marshall (15), James Madison (12), South Carolina (12), and Kentucky (11), while sitting just ahead of Georgia Southern (8).
UCF and South Carolina split their first two matchups as conference mates last season, with the Knights topping the Gamecocks on the road in the regular season, 3-2, before falling to South Carolina in the quarterfinal round of the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Championship in Orlando by a 2-1 final score Nov. 5.
The Gamecocks (9-3-2, 4-3-0 SBC) most recently secured a 3-1 win against Old Dominion Sunday, Oct. 27. Senior Harrison Myring led the team with two goals scored, joined by junior Ethan Ballek with his one goal. South Carolina totaled nine shots on goal and five saves on the defensive end.
South Carolina enters Friday’s action leading the Sun Belt in goals per game (2.36, 7th NCAA) and total goals (33, 13th NCAA). They are ranked fourth in shot accuracy with 90 shots on goal, 178 shot attempts, and 33 goals total leading them to an average of 0.506 this season.
The Gamecocks are led by Ballek and Myring offensively, who both have a total of nine goals this season. Ballek started the season off strong with two goals in South Carolina’s home-opener against the Winthrop Eagles. Ballek also broke two personal records this game with nine shot attempts in a single game and seven shots on goal. Freshman Alejandro Velazquez-Lopez leads the team in total assists, with five, and freshman goalkeeper Filip Versterre is having an impressive first season, racking up 41 saves and four shutouts.
Versterre boasts a season goals-against average of 1.00, good for third lowest in the conference and 36th in the nation. His 41 total saves rank fourth most in the league, and his .745 save rate represents the fifth highest in the Sun Belt.
The Gamecocks are on the road again to face the Knights on November 1 at 7pm at the UCF Soccer Complex and will be streamed on ESPN+.
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