BOX SCORE
ORLANDO, Fla. (SMU) – No. 4 seed SMU tied No. 1 seed UCF, 1-1, in the semifinal round of the American Athletic Conference tournament on Thursday night at the UCF Soccer and Track Complex. The two teams battled it out through regulation and two overtime periods before heading to a penalty shootout, where UCF advanced after making four shots to SMU's three.
The Mustangs (5-5-1) put on an impressive offensive performance, finishing with 26 shots to UCF's 11. SMU's defense held the Knights (7-3-1) to four shots during the first half and only one over both overtime periods.
The first goal of the night came in the 74
th minute when UCF's Gino Vivi crossed the ball into the box to Lucca Dourado, whose shot found the back of the net.
Gabriel Costa evened things up for the Mustangs in the 78
th minute, converting a penalty kick with a shot to the bottom right hand corner. The goal was the midfielder's third of the season.
Both teams fought hard to finish out regulation, but couldn't get on the board and the game entered the first overtime period. SMU finished the 10-minute period with five shots, including one from
Noah Hilt that went just high of the goal and one from
Knut Ahlander, whose shot to the bottom right was saved.
The second overtime stanza saw no score as well. SMU had the first chance, but Ahlander's shot was saved in the bottom left hand corner of the goal.
Cole Johnson earned his third save for the Mustangs, keeping the Knights out of the net after a shot off a set piece.
Nick Taylor put a second shot on goal for SMU to the top right, but UCF's keeper came up with the save.
Patrick Michael Hillyard served as the Mustang keeper for the penalty shootout. After a miss for SMU on the first attempt,
Brandon Terwege made the second and tied the shots made at one. Ahlander and
Timo Hummrich made the third and fourth shots, respectively, along with their UCF counterparts to make it a 3-3 tie. Following an SMU miss, Vivi made the fourth penalty kick for UCF to earn the spot in Saturday's championship match over the Mustangs.
SMU now awaits its NCAA tournament fate, which will be announced on Monday, April 19 at 11 a.m. CT when the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Selection Show airs on NCAA.com.
