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Monday, Oct. 15-Tuesday, Oct. 16
Highlights
Pitt 3, Temple 2
Despite a resilient second half performance marked by two come from behind goals, the Temple University men's soccer squad fell on the road to Pitt, 3-2. Two Owls shared the points to lead the Temple offense tonight, as freshman Elias Hellgren Villegas netted his first collegiate goal off of an assist by junior Lukas Fernandes, followed by a Fernandes goal received from Villegas.
The Panthers got on the board first in the 28th minute of action, when Javi Perz converted a penalty kick opportunity for his fourth goal of the season. The Owls nearly responded two minutes later, when junior defender Nick Sarver almost scored a header goal off of a Temple corner, but the Pitt keeper was there to shut it down. The remainder of the first half consisted of fluctuating possession and few scoring opportunities for either side.
The Owls came out of their halftime talk with a fire lit, netting the equalizing goal in the 50th minute. Fernandes split the Panther center backs to lead a charging Villegas, who calmly took one touch and placed it past the keeper for his first goal of the season.
Pitt took the lead again in the 63rd minute, when the squad strung together a series of passes that led to the boot of Perez. The Panthers extended their lead only four minutes later, when Dexter slotted a pass back from the left end line to a waiting Edward Kizza, who drilled it into the net for his 12th goal of the season.
UCF 5, FGCU 1
They say good things come in threes as Cal Jennings recorded his third hat trick of the season Tuesday night as No. 19 UCF defeated FGCU, 5-1 at the UCF Soccer Complex. Jennings is now the single-season record holder for goals in The American with 17, snapping the previous record of 14.
Jennings, Louis Perez, and Yoni Sorokin collected goals for the Knights, while Hattabiou Barry, Max Stiegwardt, Noah Murphy, and Mauricio Villalobos Vega each added an assist.
UCF racked up 14 total points in the match as they continue to be among the top five best scoring teams in the country. Murphy snagged his first point of the season after dishing out an assist.
A total of 20 different Knights recorded minutes in the win, including Jack McCloskey who registered a season-high 66 minutes.
UCF improves to 9-2-2 overall, surpassing last season’s total wins, while the Eagles drop to 7-4-1.
Fort Wayne 1, Cincinnati 0
University of Cincinnati men's soccer dropped a 1-0 decision to Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday night at Hefner Soccer Complex.
With the loss, the Bearcats fell to 3-10-1 on the season, while the Mastodons improved to 8-6-1 overall.
Fighting to even the match in the second half, UC was energized on the offensive end with numerous shot attempts. Rex Epps created a couple opportunities midway through the second period including a shot on goal in the 68th minute. During the 74th minute, Mohamed Elmardi had a header attempt that went wide left of the net. Peyton Mowery followed with try on target in the 80th minute that was turned away. Over the final 10 minutes of regulation, the home team was able to keep possession which stymied the Red & Black offensive attack. Despite outshooting the Mastodons 11-5 on the night, including 4-2 on goal, the Bearcats came up short, 1-0.
UConn 3, Boston College 2
Returning to Morrone for the first of a four-game home stand, the No. 13 UConn men's soccer team held off a late Boston College second-half rally, beating the Eagles 3-2 on Tuesday night.
On a free kick midway through the opening period, Josh Burnett spotted an open Abdou Mbacke Thiam on the backside and lobbed the ball to him for the score at the 28:20 mark of the first half.
UConn pushed its lead to 2-0 just before halftime. After a direct pass from Cole Venner, Mbacke Thiam took the ball up-field and found a streaking Josh Burnett, who finished the play by placing a shot to the bottom right corner of the post.
Josh Burnett tallied the first brace of his career after netting another goal in the 50th minute. Once again initiating the scoring play, Cole Venner delivered a ball to Blaise N'Gauge, who sent a thru pass to Burnett. After a hesitation dribble caused his defender to stumble, Burnett sent a shot to the bottom-right corner of the net, extending the UConn lead to 3-nil.
Boston College continued its fight throughout the second period, cutting the deficit to two goals in the 79th after Kristofer Konradsson fired a shot from the top of the box that he snuck in near the right post.
The Eagles scored again less than seven minutes later. Konradsson used a dribble move to elude his defender for an open shot, placing another ball to the bottom right post and drawing BC within one, 3-2, in the 84th minute.
Boston College looked to send the game into extra time, but Austin Aviza denied any hope of an equalizer, notching a crucial save and block in the last two minutes to preserve UConn's 3-2 victory.
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