By Tyler Spanyer

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Coming off four straight wins, the Cats returned home Wednesday to face off with Central Florida, losing 1-0 in a sloppy, cold game.

In the first half, both teams struggled to get into a rhythm and neither team seized control of the match.

However, UCF got on the board late in the first half after a careless foul by junior defender Steven Perinovic led to a free kick just outside the box. UCF junior forward Omar Vallejo curled the ball into the back post, with the assist going to the sloppy conditions. UK junior keeper Jack Van Arsdale couldn’t quite get to the quick moving ball that just skipped across the surface into the back of the net.

The second half was much different, as UK controlled the ball for more than 80 percent of the time, but could not capitalize on any of their chances. Following the fairly even first half, where each team had nine shots, however in the second half the Cats outshot the Knights 14-3.

UCF sophomore goalkeeper Sebastian Evers had nine saves on the night. One such save occurred when junior forward Tyler Riggs took a shot in close. The ball bounced off two UCF defenders before being snatched up by Evers.

The win was important for the Knights as they were sitting in fifth place in Conference USA standings, needing to finish in the top six in order to make the C-USA tournament. The loss was equally as important for the Cats, because with a win the Cats would have clinched the No. 2 seed in the C-USA tournament, which is guaranteed a first round bye.

However, now the Cats will have to win Sunday against South Carolina in order to win the No. 2 seed.

The Cats now drop to 7-6-3 on the year, 4-2-1 in C-USA,

The loss is their first since Oct. 6 against league leaders Southern Methodist.

Sunday’s kickoff against the Gamecocks is slated for 1 p.m. at the UK Soccer Complex.