Dourado Records First Career Hat Trick in Men's Soccer's Senior Knight 4-0 Win over GamecocksDourado Records First Career Hat Trick in Men's Soccer's Senior Knight 4-0 Win over Gamecocks

Dourado Records First Career Hat Trick in Men's Soccer's Senior Knight 4-0 Win over Gamecocks

by Ryan Ladika
Box Score

ORLANDO – One of the most prolific goal-scorers in UCF men’s soccer’s program history, Lucca Dourado left one final impression in what could represent his last match on his home pitch.

On the heels of an emotional pregame ceremony that honored six UCF seniors, including Dourado, Anderson Rosa, Ousmane Ba, Emmanuel Bam, Jonas Fritschi, and student manager Carson Boyko, the veteran striker produced one of the best games of his five-year career, recording his first career hat trick to lead the Black and Gold to a 4-0 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks Friday evening.

“It’s a special day. I’ve very happy for the hat trick, and for the performance of the whole team, which is the most important, for the three points. To score my first hat trick in what could be my last game here at UCF, I’m very happy for it.”

Lucca DouradoForward

Dourado’s hat trick, in addition to representing the first of his career and the first for UCF since Alessandro Campoy’s display against FGCU Sept. 11, 2021, also lifted the forward beyond the 40 career goals plateau.

He became the fifth in program history to score at least 40 goals as a Knight, and with 42 in his five-year career ranks fifth on the UCF all-time career goals scored list behind Heikki Ritvanen (88, 1996-99), Randy DeShield (56, 1976-79), Ari Nurmi (47, 1996-99) and Cal Jennings (46, 2016-19).

He also pushed his career point total to an even 90 entering the team’s regular-season finale, good for sixth most in program history behind Ritvanen (188), DeShield (126), Nurmi (122), Jennings (107) and Rony Francois (101, 1980-83).

Dourado joined an exclusive club within the Sun Belt with his accomplishment as well, joining Kentucky’s Logan Dorsey, Georgia Southern’s Ryan Holmes and West Virginia’s Sergio Ors Navarro as the fourth player in the league to score three goals in a single game this season.

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“That was the performance of the season in a lot of different ways. It was a big game for a lot of different reasons, with Senior Knight being so important to this group. I’m really proud of the energy that this group gave to that game. To do that to honor our seniors, who are so important to this group, it’s exactly how you would want it to be.”

Scott CalabreseHead Coach

Rosa accounted for the remaining score in UCF’s four-goal victory, an effort that boosted the Knights back above .500 on the season and back to even in Sun Belt Conference play with one match remaining in the regular season. The Knights bring 12 points into their Tuesday contest at Coastal Carolina and sit in a four-way tie for third place in the Sun Belt table with James Madison, South Carolina and Kentucky, trailing only No. 7 West Virginia (18 points) and No. 6 Marshall (16 points) following Friday’s action.

“You want to be going into this part of your season with the right feeling. When you have a performance like that, there’s a lot of smiles coming off the field. There are a lot of people who recognize that that was the right way to compete, and they were rewarded for it. You always want to be playing your best at the end of the season. Now you have to replicate it and turn it into momentum.”

Scott CalabreseHead Coach

Dourado ignited his team’s offense with the first goal of the match in the 26th minute, receiving a feed from Malang Mandiang that Dourado was able to chip over a sliding Gamecocks goaltender with enough momentum to evade a defender on its way into an empty net. The tally not only marked Dourado’s 14th career game-winning goal and second of the season, but also provided Mandiang with the first point and assist of his collegiate career.

Rosa was next, weaving between two Gamecock defenders in the 57th minute before ringing a shot attempt off the far goalpost and in to double the Knights’ advantage. The score represented Rosa’s second of the season and eighth of his career, giving the defender back-to-back multi-goal seasons after he totaled three scores through his first three seasons.

Just seconds after entering the game as a substitution in the 79th minute, Mouhamed Pouye assisted Dourado on his second goal of the game, a well-executed shot past the diving South Carolina keeper and just inside the far post, giving the striker his first multi-goal game of the season and Pouye his second collegiate helper.

The Knights veteran forward later iced the game with his third score, an unassisted tally directly off of a misplayed pass by the Gamecocks netminder near the middle of the South Carolina defensive end.

“It’s very important. Especially coming off a loss, it gives us a lot of confidence. Everybody today was focused; it was a day not just for the seniors, but for the whole group. It meant a lot for everybody so everybody just put their hearts on the field.”

Lucca Douradoon clinching the team’s sixth victory of the fall.

Junior goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz, played spotless defense behind his team on the other end, making a pair of saves and doing his part to stifle Gamecock chances throughout the evening.

Muñoz clinched his second clean sheet of the season and seventh of his career, ensuring the goalkeeper multiple shutouts in each of his first three collegiate seasons, and the Knights as a whole locked down their third shutout of the fall.

In blanking the Gamecocks, UCF silenced a South Carolina offense that entered the evening leading the Sun Belt in goals per game (2.36, 7th NCAA), points per game (6.71, 12th NCAA), total goals (33, 14th NCAA), total points (94, 19th NCAA) and shots on goal per game (6.43, 20th NCAA).

“We have to be ready to play Coastal Carolina on Tuesday. That turnaround is incredibly quick, and that’s why we have a full squad of players ready to contribute. We have three more points we have to go and secure to finish as high as we can.”

UP NEXT

The Knights make the trip to Conway, South Carolina, to clash with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in the team’s regular-season finale Tuesday, Nov. 5. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from CCU Soccer Stadium and will be streamed on ESPN+.

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