The UCF men’s soccer team netted a season-high four goals and locked up its first shutout of the year at North Florida on Saturday night. The Knights (3-3-2) improved to 7-1-0 all-time against the Ospreys (3-6-0) and posted their fourth-straight win in the series with the 4-0 victory.
“I’m just proud of our players to be able to bounce back from a tough loss the other night against Charlotte. They came out tonight and showed a lot of character to get a nice win on the road,” UCF head coach Bryan Cunningham said. “We had a number of guys who found the back of the net, which is good, and more importantly we earned our first shutout of the season, and hopefully that’s a good step in the right direction. Now, all of our attention is on the start of conference play against FIU on Wednesday night.”
UCF wasted no time striking first in the 7-minute mark when Deshorn Brown rebounded from a scrum in the box to put one past North Florida’s diving keeper. Brown has now scored a goal for five-consecutive games and boasts a team-high seven goals this year.
The Knights snuck in one more goal just before the half ended when McKauly Tulloch took a shot on a breakaway that was saved by Kyle Nasta, but Tulloch was able to recover the deflection and finished on an open net from six yards away.
Following the break, Romario Williams scored his first goal of the season to increase UCF’s edge to 3-0 in the 53rd minute.
The Knights capped off the night with one final goal in the 71st minute. Jeff Michaud nearly scored when he dribbled through the Osprey defense but his shot hit the post. Malcolm Reed rebounded the attempt and finished on the open net, giving Michaud the assist.
The contest with the Ospreys served as UCF’s final non-league match of the year. The Knights will open Conference USA play Wednesday, hosting FIU at 7 p.m. at the UCF Soccer Complex.
Wednesday’s game versus FIU will be the first of four home league contests for the Knights.