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Don’t look now, but the UCF Knights Men’s Soccer team is red hot.
UCF won their fourth game in a row Saturday night, 1-0 over the South Florida Bulls, on a Golden Goal in overtime by Yoni Sorokin:
A golden service. A golden goal!
— UCF Men's Soccer (@UCF_MSoccer) March 28, 2021
What a finish!#ChargeOn ⚔ #WarOnI4 pic.twitter.com/7SmosQOaxH
It was Sorokin’s fourth goal of the year — tops on the team — and it put UCF all alone in second place in The American, behind only Tulsa.
The Knights out-shot the Bulls 14-12 and kept the pressure on throughout the game, posting a 7-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Defensively, GK Yannick Oettl was spectacular again, with another clean sheet with five saves, including this phenomenal effort in the second half:
50' | YANNIK SAYS NO
— UCF Men's Soccer (@UCF_MSoccer) March 28, 2021
Incredible save to keep the match level.#ChargeOn ⚔ #WarOnI4 pic.twitter.com/NSNh5BW7Du
Oettel has not allowed a goal since returning from injury three weeks ago. The last time an opponent got one past him was the last time UCF played USF - a 2-1 loss back on February 20th.
Once 1-3, the Knights are now 5-3 and haven’t allowed a goal since March 6th, a stretch of more than 287 minutes of play.
Up next for UCF is a critical test at home against SMU, who the Knights beat in Dallas on March 13th, when they were ranked 9th in the nation. But the Mustangs have lost three of their last four and have dropped to No. 22 in the United Soccer Coaches’ poll.
The game will kick off at 6 p.m. on Friday night, April 2nd. It’s UCF’s final regular season home game of the year.