After opening the campaign with a 2-1 victory Friday at Florida Atlantic, the UCF men’s soccer team has moved to 25th in TopDrawerSoccer.com’s poll.
UCF moved up one spot in the TopDrawerSoccer.com rankings. The Knights spent all of 2011 in the top 25 nationally and concluded the season by advancing to the second round of the NCAA Championship for the second-straight season.
Head coach Bryan Cunningham’s squad will make its home debut Saturday, hosting 13th-ranked Old Dominion at 7 p.m. at the UCF Soccer Complex.
Behind a pair of goals from Deshorn Brown, the UCF men’s soccer team opened the campaign in fine fashion Friday at FAU Soccer Stadium. Brown notched the game-winner in the 59th minute.
The Knights won their third-straight season opener. UCF finished with a 13-8 shot advantage, and had seven shots on goal.
The game-winning tally from Brown, a junior transfer from the University of Mobile who was making his UCF regular-season debut, was a bullet to the top left that beat FAU (0-1) goalkeeper Jeremy Crumpton. Brown’s first goal, and the Knights’ first score of the season, came in the 51st minute when the forward took a cross from Omar Vallejo in the box and beat Crumpton in the lower left corner.
The Owls tied the contest seven minutes later when Roberto Rivera scored. UCF answered right back as Brown gave the Knights the lead less than two minutes later.
“Our players were ready to go from the start and we really controlled the entire game,” UCF head coach Bryan Cunningham said. “That is hard to do on the road. I am proud of our attitude. After their goal, we battled right back. That is a credit to our senior leadership and the mentality of the team. It is great to start the season with a good road win.”
UCF’s Sebastian Evers recorded three saves in the victory. The contest featured a 30-minute delay in the first half due to lightning.