With the score, Mueller became the seventh player to score his first goal as a Knight this season, joining Sora Funakoshi, Jonas Fritschi, Alex Smith, Mouhamed Pouye, Carlos Rojas and Drew Hansen, as well as the sixth to score his first goal at the Division I level this fall, joining Funakoshi, Fritschi, Pouye, Rojas and Hansen.
Coastal Carolina leveled the match later in the initial half, but UCF goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz later came through for his team when the opportunity arose.
With the score still deadlocked at one goal apiece, the Chanticleers mounted their attack in the final 20 minutes. Muñoz halted each of their three tries on goal, coming in the 81st, 84th and 89th minutes, with the final save occurring just seconds before Dourado provided the lift on the other side.
With his three saves, the junior has now yielded two or fewer goals in each of his eight starts this season, as well as one or fewer on six occasions. UCF collectively surrendered one or fewer goals for the 10th time in its 15 regular-season games.
Muñoz saw his goals-against average remain at an even 1.00 on the season and his career mark drop a bit more to 1.22 following Tuesday’s action, and his save percentage jumped from .682 to .692 entering postseason play.
Just 17 seconds after Muñoz’s final save of the night, Dourado came through once more for his squad. Receiving a pass from Clarence Awoudor as he entered the 18-yard box, the forward floated a try just over a charging Himes and into the Chanticleers’ net with 75 seconds on the clock.
