CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | BOX SCORE
ORLANDO – With 12 seconds left in double overtime, UCF’s Max Stiegwardt’s free kick bounced into the net untouched, delivering a 3-2 win for the top-seeded Knights over No. 4 UConn in the American Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer semifinals on Thursday.
Saturday’s Championship match will be a rematch of 2017, as the No. 7-ranked Knights advance to meet No. 2 seed SMU at 7 p.m. at the UCF Soccer & Track Complex. The game will be available live on ESPN3. The Mustangs will look to defend last season’s title, which they won in double overtime by a 2-1 score.
Thursday’s game-winner marked Steigwardt’s first of the season and capped three unanswered goals by the Knights (13-2-2) to overcome a 0-2 deficit at half. Cal Jennings registered the tying goal and assisted on UCF’s first tally, scored by Yoni Sorokin.
Knight goalkeeper Yannik Oettl stood tall in net with six saves, including a stop in the second overtime stanza. UConn’s netminder Gianluca Catalano was also solid, making four stops to keep the Huskies in contention.
Abdou Mbacke Thiam notched a goal and an assist for UConn (11-5-2), with Josh Burnett also tallying a goal.
An evenly-matched first half turned UConn’s way in the 29
th minute, beginning when a Mbacke Thiam shot bounced off the post. Moments later, Husky freshman Ibrahima Diop intercepted an errant pass from the UCF defense and passed to Felix Metzler, who in turn played the ball forward to Burnett. Burnett found himself in a one-on-one with Oettl, and tapped in the game’s first score.
The Huskies again capitalized on a Knight defensive miscue to double the lead in the 43
rd minute. This time, it was Dayonn Harris stealing the ball in UCF’s half, resulting in a cross from the right side by Blaise N’Gague. The ball found Mbacke Thiam, whose shot beat Oettl far post.
UCF narrowly missed getting on the board in the final minute, as a Louis Perez free kick from just outside the box hit the crossbar.
The Knights then wasted no time coming out of the break, halving the deficit four minutes in. A corner kick on the right side bounced to Jennings on the left, who served the ball into the box, where Sorokin headed in the goal.
Catalano and Oettl traded highlight-worthy saves to keep the score a 2-1, and the match evened into a battle in the midfield for nearly 20 minutes.
UCF finally broke the drought in the 82
nd minute. Off a centering pass from Gideon Adu-Peprah, Jennings turned and created just enough space between the Husky defenders at the top of the box to rip a shot past Catalano and force overtime.
Quick ball movement gave Mbacke Thiam the chance to tee up early in the first overtime, but his shot sailed high, and Jennings followed soon after with a shot just wide.
Steigwardt’s curling free kick proved to be the only shot in the second overtime frame, hooking just inside the far post and out of the sightline of Catalano.
Full coverage of Saturday’s Championship can be found at TheAmerican.org/msoccer and on Twitter at @American_MSoc.