Conference play gets underway in American Men’s Soccer this coming weekend for all eight teams, with two matches on Friday, one Saturday and one Sunday. On the line is hosting duties for the 2019 American Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Championship, featuring the top six teams in the regular season standings. All six championship contests will be held at the home site of the No. 1 seed – the regular season champion – Nov. 6, 8 and 10.

UCF (5-1-1) enters conference play atop the overall standings after separating itself from the pack last week. The Knights have won their past three matches thanks to the offensive firepower of junior Cal Jennings, who leads The American with 20 points and nine goals, five of which he registered in the past week. As a unit, the preseason favorite Knights pace the league as an offense with 16 goals, 2.29 goals per game, 15 assists and 19.14 shots per game.

The Knights, receiving 92 votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll, will hit the road for the third-straight game, traveling to face Temple (2-4-1) on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. The Owls are looking to get back on the upswing after going winless in their last three outings, but will be a defensive force to be reckoned with as they have allowed the fewest goals amongst conference teams (six).

Friday will also feature the two westernmost teams in The American as SMU hosts Tulsa at 7 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT). It will be the 45^th all-time meeting between the two rivals, with the Mustangs holding a sound 31-9-4 advantage. SMU (3-3-1) boasts one of the most efficient offenses in the conference and nation, owning the third-best shots per game average in the nation at 18.14, behind only UCF’s 19.14 and Seattle’s 18.38. Individually, senior Emil Cuello is the conference’s assist leader with four (0.57 per game) and landed on the conference’s Honor Roll this week along with teammate DJ Williams Jr.

Tulsa (3-3-1) has also been in the national picture this season, ranking in as high as No. 15 in the TopDrawerSoccer poll in late August. Freshman Gilles Kuhler and senior Juan Sanchez are two of The American’s top scorers this season, with six and seven points, respectively. Friday’s meeting will be a contest of the conference’s two most recent champions, with SMU defending the title and Tulsa looking to reclaim the trophy from the 2016 season.

UConn, currently sitting second in the standings, will look to remain unbeaten at Morrone Stadium on the season when it welcomes USF on Saturday. The Huskies (4-2-0) have won back-to-back games despite falling victim to two weather postponements in the past 10 days. UConn’s last five goals have all come via senior Abdou Mbacke Thiam, who most recently netted a hat trick to push his team over Loyola (Md.) in double overtime last Saturday.

USF (2-5-0) will look to keep its recent offensive spark going, as the Bulls have totaled eight goals in the past three games against stout competition. Three of those goals have come from Alex Zis, who most recently added a goal and an assist against Florida Gulf Coast. Saturday’s game will be a matchup between the third- and fourth-place teams in the conference preseason poll, with USF hoping to supersede the predictions and edge ahead of the Huskies.

Opening weekend will close with Cincinnati traveling to Memphis Sunday evening for an 8 p.m. ET start. The Tigers (4-2-1) have performed strongly in non-conference play thus far and are unbeaten in their last three games, thanks in part to outstanding goalkeeping from junior Tyler Hofmann. Hofmann leads The American with his 0.79 goals against average with three shutouts and a solid .800 save percentage. Cincinnati (1-5-0) looks to get on track to begin the league slate, having picked up its lone win thus far against Cleveland State.

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WEEKEND SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, SEPT. 21
	UCF			Temple			7 p.m.	Philadelphia, Pa.	Live Stats
	Tulsa			SMU			8 p.m.	Dallas, Texas	Live Stats
SATURDAY, SEPT. 22
	USF			UConn			7 p.m.	Storrs, Conn.	Live Stats
SUNDAY, SEPT. 23
	Cincinnati			Memphis			8 p.m.	Memphis, Tenn.	Live Stats