UCF Men’s Soccer’s Season Comes to Disappointing End

In an action-packed weekend that saw wins from football, men’s and women’s basketball, and an outright conference championship for volleyball, the UCF Knights men’s soccer team could not keep the good mojo going as the team lost to the Lipscomb Bisons in a 1-0 overtime loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

UCF entered the postseason as the 14th overall seed thanks to a 13-win season led by second-year coach Scott Calabrese and striker Cal Jennings. The top-16 seed gave the team a bye in Round 1 as Lipscomb took down Washington for the chance to visit the Knights in Orlando.

UCF was on the attack for majority of the game, outshooting the Bisons 19-8, but Lipscomb goalkeeper Chris Zappia was dominant for the opponent, saving eight shots on goal.

UCF goalkeeper Yannik Oettl was a wall for the Knights for majority of the game until Lipscomb substitute Louis Robinson scored a goal off the bench to give the Bisons the golden goal they needed and a trip to the third round of the tournament.

The loss for the Knights marked the furthest point the team had made it in program history. However, it is hard to not feel disappointed knowing this team could have made a deeper run.

However, the Knights have made significant progress in the past two years since Coach Calabrese took over the head coaching gig. He’ll be back. A majority of the team’s nucleus, including Jennings and Oettl, will be back. It’s a young squad that will only get better and more experienced to gear up for a deeper run next season.