The No. 6 ranked UCF men’s soccer team tied its Conference-USA and in-state rival FIU Panthers 0-0 on Tuesday night in Miami.
It was the Knights first match in the past 10 days. They were scheduled to host South Carolina on Saturday, but the game was postponed due to torrential rainstorms. The referees called a stop to the match with 4:49 remaining due to unplayable field conditions after heavy rain fell during the second half.
FIU goalkeeper Rodney Greiling, who recorded a total of six saves, was able to single-handedly keep his team in the game by making some exceptional saves. UCF attempted 14 shots, while FIU attempted 16. The Panthers move to 4-5-3 overall and 1-2-1 with the tie.
UCF had various scoring opportunities in this match, but Greiling stopped them all, including one on senior Warren Creavalle at the 77-minute mark, which would have given the Knights the late lead.
UCF head coach Bryan Cunningham saw that there were scoring opportunities, but also gave credit to the FIU goalkeeper .
“We defended well at times, and played well in spurts,” UCF head coach Bryan Cunningham said in a press release from UCFAthletics.com. “But we struggled in front of the goal. We had chances to put the game away, but we didn’t do it.”
“You have to give credit to FIU. Their goalkeeper was tremendous, and made some point-blank saves that were first class. We will have to regroup and get ready to go on the road again Saturday at UAB.”
This is the first time that the Knights have been shutout this season. UCF is now 8-1-2 overall and 2-0-1 in league play.
UCF will return to action Saturday against UAB. The match is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. in Birmingham, Alabama.
