Men's Soccer Set for Road Clash with No. 22 South Florida

ORLANDO – With its first homestand of the young season complete, the UCF men’s soccer team will hit the road once more for its third away-from-home test of the year in a Thursday evening matchup with the No. 22 South Florida Bulls at Corbett Stadium in Tampa.

The Knights most recently split their first two home games of the fall, earning a convincing 4-0 victory over the UTRGV Vaqueros Aug. 27 before falling in a closely contested 2-1 match with the then-No. 23 UNC Greensboro Spartans Aug. 31.

A display of the Black and Gold’s scoring depth, five different Knights found the back of the net between the two matches in Malick Thiaw, Claudel N’goubou, Lilian Ricol, Seiryu Ono and Clarence Awoudor.

Ricol, who provided the third of UCF’s four first-half scores against UTRGV, took back the team lead in goals with his second of the year, while Awoudor produced a team-best four points over the week with a pair of Wednesday assists and a converted penalty kick goal Sunday evening.

The Knights’ five-goal week pushed the team into second in the Sun Belt with seven goals through their four matches, trailing only West Virginia’s nine for the league lead. UCF also ranks among Sun Belt leaders in total points (20, 2nd), total assists (6, 3rd), saves per game (3.25, 4th), assists per game (1.50, T-4th), and points per game (5.00, T-4th).

Senior goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz made a trio of first-half saves in the team’s matchup with the Spartans as well, lifting his saves total to 12 through four matches, good for a share of most in the Sun Belt with James Madison’s Joshua Moya and Old Dominion’s Michael Statham.

Despite the losing Sunday result, the Black and Gold still hung with UNC Greensboro throughout the evening, limiting the visitors to just eight shot attempts, the fewest surrendered to any of UCF’s ranked opponents thus far.

The Spartans also represented the third of UCF’s first four opponents this fall to earn a spot within the United Soccer Coaches first two top 25 polls, and the Bulls will mark the fourth of five thus far with their debut in this week’s ranking.

A win over South Florida would represent the Knights’ first over a ranked opponent since the team edged then-No. 9 Clemson on the road Aug. 24, 2023, an effort that aided the Knights in later earning the first No. 1 ranking in a regular-season poll in UCF Athletics history.

The two squads have played each other well spanning the more recent period of the lengthy all-time series, splitting the last five matchups with a 2-2-1 record dating back to March 27, 2021. The teams played to a scoreless draw in their 2024 matchup in Orlando, with UCF’s two wins in that span coming in Tampa March 27, 2021, and Sept. 29, 2021.

The Knights will also look to build upon a 19-8-2 overall record against Florida foes in the Scott Calabrese era dating back to 2017 in their Thursday tilt in Tampa.

The Bulls, meanwhile, jumped into the most recent United Soccer Coaches top 25 poll Tuesday afternoon after beginning the season unranked, remaining unbeaten through their first four matches this fall. South Florida (2-0-2) began its season with a scoreless draw with Saint Louis on the road, now No. 16 in the nation in this week’s poll, before toppling Lipscomb, 4-1, in Nashville.

South Florida then played to its second draw this season with UNC Greensboro, 1-1, at the home of the Tampa Bay Rowdies in St. Petersburg, Al Lang Stadium, Aug. 28, before finally making its home debut with a 3-2 win over FGCU Aug. 31.

The Bulls are led offensively by graduate student forward Fabio Bozesan, who has produced a team-best eight points on the strength of three goals and a pair of assists through four matches. The Würzburg, Germany native has scored in each of South Florida’s last three matches, including providing the team’s lone tally in its draw with the Spartans.

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Jahiem Wickham, aided by his team’s defensive efforts thus far, has allowed just four goals through four games accompanied by 14 saves as well.

Kickoff for the match is set for 7 p.m. from Corbett Stadium and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

TICKETS
UCF men’s soccer season and single-game tickets are on sale now. Please visit ucfknights.com/tickets for more information or call the ticket office at (407) 823-1000.

ABOUT UCF ATHLETICS
UCF is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference. Our mission is to positively transform the lives of our students academically, athletically, and personally through a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the reputation and visibility of the University. We strive to be Florida's preeminent athletic program representing UCF and our community with distinction on the national stage as "Orlando's Hometown Team". To learn more about UCF and Athletics, please visit our websites at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.