No. 2-Ranked Tulsa Hosts UCF in The American Men’s Soccer Championship Sunday

Tulsa's No. 1 seed men's soccer team will host No. 2 seed UCF in the American Athletic Conference Championship on Sunday, November 14 beginning at 12:00 pm at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium. The championship match will air live on ESPNews.

This is the second straight year the two teams will battle for the title, with the Knights claiming the title just seven months ago. This is also TU's fifth appearance in the championship since joining the league in 2014.

Tickets for the tournament, which are $5, can be purchased ONLINE or at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium (CASH ONLY).

Tulsa recorded a 2-0 win over No. 4 seed SMU in the semifinals on Thursday, while No. 2 UCF picked up a 6-0 win over No. 3 seed Memphis on Wednesday.

The Golden Hurricane, which is ranked No. 2 in the nation by United Soccer Coaches, has a 14-1-1 overall record and tallied an 8-1-1 mark in league play. As a team, Tulsa ranks first in the nation in penalty kicks (1.00), third in won-lost-tied percentage (0.906), seventh in scoring offense (2.50), seventh in goal differential (28), 10th in saves percentage (0.810), 11th in total goals (40), 12th in goals-against average (0.730), 13th in shot accuracy (0.489), 14th in total points (113), 15th in shutout percentage (0.500) and 37th in total assists (33).

Thirteen players have scored a goal for Tulsa, including a team-best 12 goals by Alex Meinhard, seven by Malik Henry-Scott, three goals by both Ben Barkley and Takayoshi Wyatt, and two by Tom Protzek, Austen Schweinert, Henry Sach and Til Zinnhardt, while five others have one score (one goal was an own goal). Alex Lopez has logged 1336 minutes between the posts, picking up 37 saves for a 0.771 saves percentage and allowing 11 goals for a 0.74 goals-against average.

UCF has a 9-7 mark on the season, including a 6-4 mark in The American, but are the only team to beat TU this season. Lucca Dourado has a team-best 13 goals and 28 points, while Gino Vivi has six scores and Alessandro Campoy has five goals. Nick Taylor has a team-high nine assists.
Three UCF goalkeepers have combined for 49 saves, a 0.613 saves percentage and three clean sheets, while allowing 31 goals for a 1.93 goals-against average.

Tulsa has a 13-6-3 lead in the all-time series over UCF, but the Knights captured a 3-2 win in Orlando and TU recorded a 2-1 win in Tulsa earlier this season.

The Golden Hurricane is making its fifth appearance in the American Athletic Conference title game (2014, 2015, 2016, 2020-21, 2021). All three of TU's American Athletic Conference Championships have come by a shootout, tying USF (0-0) in 2014, UConn (1-1) in 2015 and USF (1-1) in 2016.

Besides the Golden Hurricane's three American Athletic Conference tournament titles, Tulsa has won four Conference USA tournament titles and one Missouri Valley Conference tournament title. The Golden Hurricane also has five (3 C-USA; 1 MVC; 1 AAC) regular season championships.

No. 2-Ranked Tulsa Hosts UCF in The American Men’s Soccer Championship Sunday

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Players Mentioned

Ben Barkley

Malik Henry-Scott

Alex Lopez

Alex Meinhard

Tom Protzek

Henry Sach

Austen Schweinert

Takayoshi Wyatt

Til Zinnhardt