ORLANDO, Fla. – The South Carolina men’s soccer team opens Sun Belt Tournament play when they travel to No. 1 UCF November 5 for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Gamecocks are the No. 7 seed, while the Knights are the No. 2 seed. The winner advances to the semi-finals November 8 in Orlando to face the winner of West Virginia and Georgia State.
Gameday Information – #WEareCarolina
When: November 5 | 7 p.m.
Where: Orlando, Fla.
Venue: UCF Soccer and Track Complex (1,475)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Broadcast: ESPN+
Series History: South Carolina leads 8-2-4
Last Meeting: UCF 3, South Carolina 2 | Oct 22, 2023 | Columbia, S.C.
South Carolina Gamecocks 5-8-3, 3-4-2 Sun Belt
Coach: Tony Annan | 3rd Season – 15-25-9
Goal Leader: 6 | Adam Luckhurst
Assist Leader: 3 | Mika Habel
Points Leader: 12 | Adam Luckhurst
Shots Leader: 31 | Ethan Dekel Daks
Saves Leader: 57 | Ben Alexander
#1 UCF Knights 10-2-2, 6-2-1 Sun Belt
Coach: Scott Calabrese | 7th Season
Goal Leader: 9 | Lucca Dourado
Assist Leader: 4 | AJ Seals and Emmanuel Bam
Points Leader: 20 | Lucca Dourado
Shots Leader: 46 | Lucca Dourado
Saves Leader: 39 | Juanvi Muñoz
Taking the Pitch
- This will be the 15th meeting between the Gamecocks and Knights.
- South Carolina is 4-1-1 all-time in Orlando.
- The Knights won the last meeting in the Sunshine State 3-2 on Sept. 22, 2019.
- The first meeting took place on Nov. 5, 1979 in Orlando.
- The two sides played every year from 2005 to 2012.
- The Gamecocks have out-scored the Knights 26-13 in the series.
Quick Notes
- South Carolina leads the nation in both cumulative and average attendance (4,306)
- Carolina has hosted three of the top seven highest attended on-campus NCAA men’s soccer home matches this season (#5 – Old Dominion, #6 – Jacksonville, #7 – UNCW).
- They also claim nine of the top 21 spots in highest attended home matches (#10 – Georgia State, #12 – USC Upstate, #13 – Queens, #14 – West Virginia, #20 – UCF, #21 – Coastal Carolina), along with their road match at Clemson ranking as #11.
- Only Clemson, Creighton and North Carolina have two matches in the top-20.
- South Carolina is the only program in the nation to have all of its home matches (10) rank in the top-50 for attendance.
- Jordan Illian scored the game-winner with 33 seconds left vs Coastal Carolina.
- Illian notched a brace, making him the first freshman to score two goals in a match since Mike Lindsay against Kentucky on Nov. 9, 2007.
- He also added an assist for a five-point night, becoming…