November 3, 2002

BOCA RATON – A goal by senior Koyondome Koyagialo (Zaire/GA Perimeter) gave UCF a 1-0 victory over Stetson in the Atlantic Sun Championship game this afternoon at FAU Field. By winning the conference title, the Golden Knights earned the A-Sun’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and advance to post-season play for the first time in program history.

The match was hard fought by both teams with six yellow cards and one red card given in the game. Stetson earned two in the first minute of play.

The two squads also pressured the opposing defense. In the 10th minute of play, UCF freshman Juan Pablo Giraudo (Miami/Miami Sunset Sr. HS) shot a bullet off a through ball by tournament MVP and sophomore midfielder Eric Vasquez (Miami/Miami Sunset Sr. HS) that was saved by Hatter Ian Landrum.

In the 20th minute, Vasquez would be the source of yet another scoring chance for the Golden Knights (10-7-3) when he served a corner kick to freshman Billy Judino (Lakeland/Lake Gibon HS), whose header was stopped by Landrum.

Stetson (9-10-1) mounted its own offensive attack in the 30th minute on a header by Alex Minton, but the shot was grabbed by UCF freshman keeper Ryan McIntosh (Cooper City/St. Thomas Aquinas).

The shots were 11-4 in favor of the Golden Knights in the first half, and they kept the momentum going in the second and capitalized at 47:29. Vasquez sent a through pass to Judino. Judino crossed the ball to Koyagialo, who connected on a header for his fifth goal of the year.

Stetson only allowed two more shots the rest of the match, but forced to play a man down when Andy Anspaugh received a red card in the 79th minute.

McIntosh made five saves to earn his third shutout of the season, while Landrum had eight in the loss.

Joining Vasquez on the all-tournament team were McIntosh, junior Brian Malec (Valrico/Durant HS) and freshman Austin Gunning (Baton Rouge, La./Baton Rouge Magnet), Stetson’s Minton, Carl Keever and Jason Osbourne, Mercer’s Jason Erickson and Oskar Modin and Jacksonville’s Steve Command and Nuno Cordeiro.

The Golden Knights will discover who will be their opponent in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament when the committee unveils the participants in the selection show, which will be broadcast on ESPNEWS on Nov. 18 at 4:30 p.m.
 

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