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November is here, and that means it’s postseason time for Soccer. There’s plenty of drama to be had for both UCF Knights soccer programs in this week’s KnightCap.
Men’s Soccer clinches outright regular season championship with another golden goal
Gino Vivi scored his third golden goal of the season on a spectacular spin-o-rama to give the UCF Knights a 3-2 overtime win at Cincinnati in their regular season finale, clinching the outright regular season title in the process.
GINO PUT 'EM IN THE SPIN CYCLE! The freshman nets his third golden goal of the season!#ChargeOn | #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/Re2drOnG56
— UCF Men's Soccer (@UCF_MSoccer) November 6, 2019
UCF has played eight overtime games this year, including six of the last eight fixtures, going 6-0-2 in extra time.
The Knights finish the regular season with only one loss - their fewest losses in a season since 1976, when they were a Division II Independent.
UCF will host the conference tournament, and the Knights also have a bye to the semifinals as the top seed. They will next play on Wednesday, November 13th against the winner of the 4/5 match-up between Memphis and Temple, scheduled for Saturday, November 9th. The Knights beat Memphis 1-0 on November 1, and beat Temple 2-0 back on September 27th, with both of those matches at UCF.
Record: 13-1-2, 6-0-1 in The American (1st place)
Ranking: #6 in United Soccer Coaches, #4 in Top Drawer Soccer
RPI: #3 (up one spot)
Next: American Tournament Semifinal vs. winner of Temple at Memphis - Wednesday November 13th at UCF Track & Soccer Complex (American Digital Network)
Women’s Soccer advances in American First Round, faces South Florida in semis
The Women’s Soccer team began their uphill climb in The American Tournament with a dominant 5-0 home victory over Houston in the first round on Sunday.
Relive Sunday's goal performance that sent us to the @American_WSoc Championship Semi Final match #ChargeOn⚔ pic.twitter.com/iDcBXENPbV
— UCF Women's Soccer (@UCF_WSoccer) November 6, 2019
The 3-seed Knights got a pair of goals from Dayana Martin, plus additional tallies from Ellie Moreno, Darya Rajaee and Jessica Taylor. Coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak spoke post-game about Moreno’s opening salvo:
Talkin' with Coach Tiff about Ellie Moreno's goal to put us up less than ✌ minutes into the match#ChargeOn | #BestIsOurStandard pic.twitter.com/E6KWL5h0Mo
— UCF Women's Soccer (@UCF_WSoccer) November 3, 2019
UCF now heads to Memphis for the remainder of the conference tournament. They face the 2-seed South Florida Bulls (12-4, #2 seed) in the semifinals. The winner faces the winner of SMU (12-6-1, #5 seed) vs. Memphis (16-1-1, #1 seed) in the championship on November 10th. UCF beat South Florida 1-0 in their regular season finale in Orlando on Halloween night.
In all likelihood, UCF will have to win the tournament outright in order to secure a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Record: 11-3-4, 5-2-2 in The American (4th place)
Ranking: Receiving Votes in United Soccer Coaches Poll (three spots out of top 25)
RPI: 90th (up 18 spots)
Next: American Tournament Semifinal vs. South Florida - Thursday, November 7th at 5:30 p.m. ET
Volleyball heads into Senior Week winners of nine straight
UCF Knights Volleyball swept another weekend, this time a home-road split against South Florida and at SMU.
On Friday, UCF dominated the Bulls in three, thanks to 15 kills from McKenna Melville and this spectacular save and block by Nerissa Moravec that got national attention:
So so good. #NCAAVB | @UCF_Volleyball pic.twitter.com/0aox3XIVvw
— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) November 3, 2019
Then on Sunday, UCF took care of SMU in four, in back of a 20-kill, 12-dig performcance from Melville and 50 combined assists from the Olson Sisters. The victory pushed UCF’s winning streak to nine in a row, with their last loss coming on October 4th at Cincinnati.
UCF now heads into the final home weekend of the regular season against ECU on Friday and the aforementioned Bearcats on Sunday with massive division and RPI implications.
Also of note: Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati’s phenomenal outside hitter, is coming off a mind-blowing 50-kill effort on her Senior Night against UConn that earned her AVCA National Player of the Week Honors.
5️⃣0️⃣
— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) November 3, 2019
Jordan Thompson absolutely on her senior day, blasting the most kills of any player in 20 years and the 7th most all time in NCAA DI Volleyball history!#NCAAVB | @GoBearcatsVB pic.twitter.com/LiYRe8HCJs
Sunday should be one for the ages at The Venue.
Record: 18-6, 11-1 in The American (T-1st place, East Division)
Ranking: Not ranked
RPI: #28 (down one spot)
Matches Left: 4
- November 8 vs. ECU (3rd AAC East, RPI #138)
- November 10 vs. Cincinnati (T-1st* AAC East, RPI #31)
- November 14 at Temple (5th AAC East, RPI #108)
- November 16 at UConn (4th AAC East, RPI #232)
* Cincinnati currently owns tiebreaker with UCF in East