A last minute goal by Eric Martinez gave No. 25 South Carolina a 1-0 victory over the No. 16 UCF Men’s Soccer team in a thrilling second overtime period game at the UCF Soccer Complex Tuesday night.
The Knights (9-3-4, 3-3-1 C-USA), coming off a tough loss to conference-foe Memphis Saturday, were unable to clear the ball after a South Carolina corner, and Martinez scored the game-winning goal from 10 yards out with only 59 seconds on the clock.
UCF now has its first losing streak of the entire season.
Locked in a 0-0 tie, the game proceeded to overtime to settle the score between these conference foes. The Knights had their chances, but couldn’t capitalize in the first overtime.
The Knights are now 5-2-0 at home after the loss. This is the first time in two years the Knights have lost consecutive games at home.
Both teams took 17 shots, and UCF had an advantage in corner kicks. UCF was by far the more aggressive team in overtime, taking four shots to South Carolina’s one in the second overtime.
“It’s tough losing like that. We had plenty of chances in regulation and in overtime, but they really had one good chance and credit to them- they put it away,” head coach Bryan Cunningham said.
UCF will close its regular season on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Marshall in Orlando, before the start of the C-USA Championship in Tulsa, Okla. beginning Nov. 9.
