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By Nate Blythe
UCFKnights.com

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ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - UCF junior Romario Williams deflected in a cross from senior Jake Weiss during the 53rd minute, but Memphis responded with a goal of its own by Chandler Gagnon in the 75 minute. Both defenses kept opportunities at a premium as the match ended, 1-1, following two overtimes on Saturday night at the UCF Soccer Complex.

"Jake is one of the best crossers of the ball on the team," said Williams. "As soon as I saw him open up his hips to hit a cross, I just made a near post run. I was lucky enough to get a slight touch on it before it went into the bottom corner."

The goal for Williams was his fourth of the season, while it was the first assist for Weiss. UCF (1-5-2, 0-0-1) and Memphis (2-4-2, 0-0-1) each earned a point in the American Athletic Conference standings following the league's opener.

"I thought that we executed our game plan tonight," head coach Bryan Cunningham said. "We controlled the match for 110 minutes and were dangerous. Tonight, we took a step forward in terms of how we want to play as a team. There were a lot of things we did right and are on the right path to achieve success."

A total of 10 shots were fired toward the net for each squad during the contest. Junior Hadji Barry paced the Knights with three attempts followed by freshman Matias Pyysalo and Williams.

Making his first start of the season in goal was sophomore Zach Biggs, who made three stops in the contest. The Tigers' counterpart, Cody Uzvategui recorded just one save.

Memphis' equalizer came in the 75th minute off a corner from Benjamin Ciosanski that was sent through the box onto the foot of Chandler Gagnon. His shot from the top of the box slide along the ground just inside the left post.

The Knights were inches away from scoring with 30 seconds left in the first half as Barry fired a shot that hit the crossbar and bounced back into the field of play.

"When we possess the ball, it needs to be with a purpose to try and break our opponent down, the more of an attacking oriented possession" Cunningham added. "We were able to exert our will tonight at times and smother Memphis a little bit."

Each overtime session saw one shot with Memphis recording the only attempt on goal in the second 10-minute period.

The two squads meet for the second time this season on Oct. 11 in Memphis at 8 p.m.

UCF presented by Napleton's Volkswagen continues a two-game home stand on Saturday at 7 p.m. against SMU at the UCF Soccer Complex. For more information on how to purchase tickets click here or call 407-UCF-1000.