Bears Fall to #19 UCF in Season Opener

Thursday, August 22

Orlando, Fla.

8 p.m.

Mercer University

0-1-0, 0-0-0

UCF

1-0-0, 0-0-0

Mercer

UCF

Photo by: Connor Garrison

8/23/2024 12:06:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Donovan Schultz, donovan.schultz@live.mercer.edu

ORLANDO, Fla. – The 19^th-ranked UCF Knights used two first half goals to jump out to an early lead and did not look back, taking down Mercer 3-1 in Thursday's season opener. Lucca Dourado opened the scoring in the 16^th minute with a goal for the Knights, and in the 21^st minute, Clarence Awoudor converted on a penalty kick to make it 2-0. After taking the lead into halftime, Emmanuel Bam would stretch the lead to three with a goal in the 50^th minute. Sekou Agard scored the first goal of the season for the Bears in the 88^thminute off of a free kick from Woodi Pondeca.

The Bears were able to draw two free kicks outside of the box in the early going, but close misses by senior Carlos Santamaria kept the Bears off the scoreboard. From that point on, UCF controlled the game en route to the victory.

The Knights out-shot the Bears 14-6 on the night, with six shots coming on target. Mercer held the edge in corners with five compared to UCF's three. The Bears committed 23 fouls to 8 by the Knights.

Trevor McMullen made three saves on the night for Mercer, including a tremendous save in the 20^th minute, diving to his right to prevent a UCF goal.

Segun Afolabi had a quality chance in the 69^th minute and put a shot on target, but it was saved on a nice play by UCF goalkeeper Juanvi Munoz.

SCORING SUMMARY
16' UCF GOAL: Lucca Dourado; ASSIST: Emmanuel Bam, Clarence Awoudor
21' UCF GOAL: Clarence Awoudor; ASSIST: None
50' UCF GOAL: Emmanuel Bam; ASSIST: Yanis Belatrache
88' MERCER GOAL: Sekou Agard; ASSIST: Nick Wanzer, Woodi Pondeca

TOP BEARS

+ Sekou Agard scored his fifth career goal to open the season scoring for Mercer
+ Mercer goalkeeper Trevor McMullen made several quality saves on the night, keeping Mercer in the match
+ Sophomores Sam Brokopp and Ken Senghore, along with freshman Aaron Pondeca, made their collegiate debuts for the Bears. Pondeca played 49 minutes in the contest

UP NEXT
Mercer heads to Tampa on Sunday, August 25 to take on South Florida. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. ET.