For the first time since joining the Sun Belt in 2023, the UCF Knights Men’s Soccer is heading for the conference’s championship game.
The championship game berth, the Knights’ first conference championship game berth since
2021, comes after they upset 1-seed Kentucky, 1-0, in Lexington on Wednesday night.
It was a difficult matchup for both teams’ attacks, as despite UCF outshooting Kentucky, 14-7, there were only three shots on goal, with the Knights also getting an advantage over the Wildcats, 2-1.
“Even though they had lots of possessions towards the end, lots of crosses, I don’t think they created a lot of chances,” defender Jem Hewlett said on Thursday on a Zoom press conference. “So that’s credit to everyone that’s collected defensively.”
Forward Drew Hansen scored the match’s only goal, his second game-winner for the Knights of the tournament and his third goal overall this season. He was assisted by midfielder Joey Mueller, tallying just his second assist of the season.
“I just saw the ball fall to Joey, and he looked up, and when I saw him see me, I sort of knew what he was going to do, that he was going to try and hit it like that, and so I just took off,” Hansen said. “His pass was perfect. It was unbelievable.”
The win catapulted the Knights to #38 in RPI rankings, putting them on the bubble for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid even if they lose or draw in the Sun Belt Tournament championship on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Marshall. UCF finished its regular season in Huntington against the Thundering Herd back on Nov. 4, losing 2-0.
However, this position is a far cry from where UCF was entering the tournament at #67 in the RPI rankings. In just two matches, the Knights went from NCAA Tournament afterthoughts to moving 29 spots up the rankings and putting themselves in contention to either capture the Sun Belt’s automatic bid or potentially earn an at-large selection as one of the last teams in.
“It definitely is crazy how fast things change, because we all knew, like, I guess a week ago now, like, we had not beat Georgia Southern, our season was done,” Hansen said. “And I think that’s what’s really exciting, is now it’s gone from ‘Okay, like we may be done,’ to ‘Okay, now, like, we’re really close to getting to keep playing.‘”
