TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa secured the fourth American Athletic Conference men’s soccer championship in program history, as the top-seeded Golden Hurricane defeated No. 2 seed UCF 2-1 on Sunday in front of a raucous crowd at Hurricane Stadium to capture the tournament title.
Tulsa added the 2021 American tournament hardware to a prior sweep of the championship in the 2014-16 seasons. The Golden Hurricane became the third one-seed to win the American Men’s Soccer Championship, joining SMU in 2017 and UCF in 2020. UCF forward Gino Vivi captured tournament Most Outstanding Offensive Player with a tournament-high three goals and seven points. Tulsa’s Til Zinnhardt was named Most Outstanding Defensive Player after logging one assist and helping guide a back line that surrendered just a single goal the entire tournament.
UCF had the first real chance of the match in the 12th minute after a promising attack into the Tulsa third yielded a corner kick. Robbie Soronellas connected on the other end of a Nick Taylor service but sent the ball over the net.
Tulsa picked out Mariano Fazio in the air on a free kick from 40 yards out in the 22nd minute. Fazio cut toward the left post and met the pass with his head, but the ball went over the line wide left.
The Golden Hurricane began to control possession as the first half progressed and was rewarded in the 32nd minute. Alvaro Torrijos picked the pocket of a defender and knifed his way toward the UCF frame, finishing the opening goal of the match and his first of the season inside the right post for the 1-0 lead at 31:06.
UCF pushed the pace at the start of the second half and created a dangerous chance down the right flank in the 54th minute. A sitter found its way to Knight defender Anderson Rosa at the top of the box but his lob sailed high.
The Knights were finally rewarded for their efforts in the 57th minute off the foot of Vivi. Vivi made a run direct to the right touchline and tucked the ball inside the far post to square the contest at 1-1 at 56:07.
The match went back and forth until the 82nd minute when Tulsa found the title-winner. Will Edwards drove down the right flank toward the UCF goal and found a streaking Marcus Moreno. Moreno connected on his second goal of the season for the 2-1 Golden Hurricane advantage at 81:45.
2021 American Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Championship
November 10, 11 & 14, 2021
Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Semifinal 1 - Wednesday, November 10
No. 2 UCF 6, No. 3 Memphis 0
Semifinal 2 - Thursday, November 11
No. 1 Tulsa 2, No. 4 SMU 0
Final - Sunday, November 14
No. 1 Tulsa 2, No. 2 UCF 1
2021 American Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Championship All-Tournament Team
JP Jordan, M, SMU
Mads Westergren, D, SMU
Gino Vivi, F, UCF (Most Outstanding Offensive Player)
Lucca Dourado, F, UCF
Rainer De Jesus, M, UCF
Yanis Leerman, D, UCF
Til Zinnhardt, D, Tulsa (Most Outstanding Defensive Player)
Alvaro Torrijos, M, Tulsa
Mariano Fazio, D, Tulsa
Marcus Moreno, M, Tulsa
Mitchell Cashion, D, Tulsa