UCF men’s soccer falls to Lipscomb in second round of NCAA Tournament

After a seven-year absence, the UCF men’s soccer team’s return to the NCAA Tournament came to a disappointing conclusion Sunday night.

UCF delivered a dominant performance, but Lipscomb’s Louis Robinson put away a golden goal in overtime that clinched the Bisons’ 1-0 second-round NCAA victory over the Knights at the UCF Soccer Complex

“I’m so proud of this group,” UCF coach Scott Calabrese said after the loss. “When you look at two years ago when we got here to now, and not just what was accomplished … but in terms of the culture of this group [on] how together they are, just the way they train, it’s definitely become now a family.”

UCF goalkeeper Yannick Oettl made a pair of saves in the 97th minute of overtime before Robinson received a cross at the top of the sixyard box, pouncing on the opportunity to net the golden goal to send the Bisons to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Knights entered the tournament as the No. 14 seed with a first-round bye after winning the American Athletic Conference regular-season championship earlier this month. It was UCF’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2011.

“It hurts a lot. It’s been a great season, but it hurts that it ends like that,” Oettl said. “We played so good and the team was all together all season. It hurts to lose like this in overtime with one goal.”

The Knights produced several shots at goal during the first half. Midfielder Mauricio Villalobos Vega’s strike hit off the crossbar in the sixth minute before forward Cal Jennings saw his shot hit off the top frame of the goal in the 20th minute.

The first 45 minutes continued to see UCF active in the final third when Hattabiou Barry attempted a cross into the box, which also hit off the crossbar.

In the 28th minute, the Knights almost opened the scoring when a cross from right back Jack McCloskey connected with Jennings from close range. Jennings headed the ball over the goal.

Moments later in the 30th minute, Barry beat two Lipscomb defenders and saw his shot go wide of the goal.

In the 37th minute, Jennings again almost opened the scoring when he made an open run at goal, but his shot was saved by Lipscomb goalkeeper Christopher Zappia.

The Knights outshot the Bisons 12-1 in the first half and tallied 18 total shots during 90 minutes.

Lipscomb advanced to play the Knights after a 5-4 penalty-shootout win against Washington on Thursday.

During the second half of the UCF-Lipscomb matchup, Jennings’ low, curling shot from 25 yards out went wide of the post in the 63rd minute. The forward saw another chance to score in the 78th minute after making a quick turn inside the box and shooting wide of the post.

The Bisons almost broke the deadlock in the 66th minute when Noah Gulden’s attempt from inside the box went wide of the goal.

In the 82nd minute, a free kick played into the box from Lipscomb defender Austin Eager saw Oettl punch the ball out of the goal line. Moments later, the Knights’ Richard Amon had a one-on-one opportunity go to waste after Zappia converted a pivotal save to keep the game scoreless.