ORLANDO, Fla. – UCF men's soccer coach Scott Calabrese will lead the Knights in his first regular season game on Sept.12.
He revealed the Knights' 2017 schedule Monday.
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Hosting seven regular-season games and two exhibition matches, the Knights will look to rebound off a 2016 campaign in which the Black and Gold went 5-11 overall and 3-4 in conference play.
Despite a tough regular season, the Knights managed to find their way into the American Athletic Conference's semifinals against I-4 rival USF. However, a 2-1 double overtime loss ended UCF's run and its season.
Now, with 13 players returning for UCF, including AAC Player of the Year Matias Pyysalo, the Knights are set to take on tough opponents such as Tulsa, UConn, USF and Cincinnati.
Starting off with exhibition matches in August against Tampa and Georgia Southern, the Knights will then open the 2017 season on the road on Aug. 25 at the John Rennie Nike Invitational in Durham, North Carolina, against Duke.
Opening their home schedule Sept. 1, the Knights will then face off against Charlotte. Following a road trip against Jacksonville and West Virginia, the Knights will return home to take on FIU Sept. 12.
Following a road game against Florida Gulf Coast Sept. 19, UCF will then begin its conference play with USF in Tampa.
Before playing the final game of the regular season Nov. 4 against Cincinnati, the Knights will face off against SMU (Sept. 29) on the road. After SMU, the Knights will play Stetson (Oct. 3), Memphis (Oct. 7) and Tulsa (Oct. 15), all at home, before traveling to UConn Oct. 21. The home games end when UCF returns home to host FAU (Oct. 24) and Temple (Oct. 28).
The top four teams in the final AAC standings will appear in the American Championship which kicks off on Nov. 12 on ESPNU.