Many of the alumni planning to be on campus, including those with NFL experience, will be taking part in the UCF Spring Football Festival where many will be join 2011 season ticket holders for an exclusive autograph session from 12-1 p.m. inside the stadium.

The game begins at 2 p.m. Cost of admission is $5 for fgeneral admission. Students and children 12 and under will be admitted free. Members of the current UCF football team will sign autographs for fans following the game.

Current NFL players returning for Saturday’s game are Atari Bigby, Pat Brown, Joe Burnett, Leger Douzable, Mike Greco, Brandon Marshall, Sha’reff Rashad, Asante Samuel, Mike Sims-Walker, Josh Sitton, Kevin Smith and Torell Troup.  Joining them are former NFL players Damien Demps, Corris Ervin, Travis Fisher, Ryan Flinn, Jimmy Fryzel, Doug Gabriel, Mike Gruttadauria, Alex Haynes, Rashad Jeanty, Shawn Jefferson, Darcy Johnson, Paul Miranda, Elton Patterson and Terrance Williams.

Several others will be on-hand Friday night for the annual Football Lettermen’s Club Golf Outing and Luncheon at Rio Pinar Country Club.

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James Lynch scored on a three-yard run with 18 second to play to help the Orlando Predators (3-1) overcome a 15-point deficit Saturday night against the Philadelphia Soul (1-3).

The Preds won 53-46 in front of an announced crowd of 11,789 at Amway Center.

“You’ve got to win the tough close games like this in this league,” Predators coach Pat O’Hara said afterwards. “We didn’t play as well as we’re capable of but when you’re able to overcome the adversity the way we did it’s a tremendous win that our team can build on.”

Orlando struggled to keep the Soul out of the end zone for much of the night before picking off two passes in the second half. The biggest turnover came while trailing 40-39 when Paul Griffin tracked down an errant pass by Philadelphia quarterback Ryan Vena with less than seven minutes to play.

The Preds answered by taking the led for the first time on a six-yard touchdown pass from Nick Hill to Bobby Sippio with 3 minutes, 30 seconds remaining.

Hill then engineered the final drive with completions to Robert Quiroga and T.T. Toliver after the Soul reclaimed the lead with just 44 seconds remaining.

“We just wanted to come back and redeem ourselves from last week,” Toliver said, referring to a 21-point lead the Preds squandered in its one-point loss to Arizona.

Hill passed for 309 yards and six touchdowns on 28-of-40 attempts. Toliver led the team with 13 catches for 131 yards and three scores while Sippio scored four touchdowns on nine receptions for 105 yards. Quiroga caught seven passes for 84 yards.

Orlando salvaged an inconsistent first half by recording its first defensive stop of the game in the final seconds of the second quarter when Arrion Dixon blocked a field goal attempt as time ran out.

Orlando trailed at the break 27-18.

“You could see the body language of our guys when we blocked that kick,” O’Hara said. “That gave them some momentum and some realization that we’ve got a fight on our hands here.”

The Soul took a 27-12 led with nine minutes to play in the first half when Hill’s pass to Quiroga bounced off a fan along the sideline and into the hands of Tanner Varner, who took it back 36 yards for a touchdown.

The Preds answered on its next possession as Hill found Sippio in the corner of the end zone from 17 yards out.

Rayshaun Kizer finished with six tackles and Marlon Moye-Moore picked off his fourth pass of the season. Johnnie Balous and Mark Robinson were each in on sacks.

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In front of an announce crowd of 7,933 at the Florida Citrus Bowl Saturday night the Orlando City Lions won its inaugural home opener 3-0 over FC New York (0-1-0, 0 points).

The Lions (1-1-0, 3 points) controlled the latter part of the first half and most of the second half in the win.

Both teams played solid defense over the opening 40 minutes before Max Griffin scored the first goal in Orlando City history from the left side in the 43rd minute.

The Lions controlled the tempo from there. In the 54th minute, Yordany Alvarez scored off of an initial shot from Jamie Watson, which was saved and rebounded by Lawrence Olum who made the pass that would lead to the 2-0 advantage.

Griffin scored the final goal when Lewis Neal sent a cross in front of the goal in the 71st minute.

“I thought as the game was going on we gained more confidence, especially after the first goal by (Max) Griffin,” Orlando City coach Adrian Heath said.

“We were a lot better than we were last week. I am really pleased everyone connected with the club as well. The club has worked so hard to make our first home game a special night, which I told our players as a bit of inspiration. There was a great atmosphere tonight.”

Orlando City goes on the road this Saturday to face the Charlotte Eagles.

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– National Basketball Association – Chicago 102, Magic 99

Jameer Nelson was just a second late on his release from beyond the arc as time expired Sunday at the Amway Center. The Bulls (60-20) wrapped up the top seed in the East with the win. The Magic (50-30) was playing without Dwight Howard, who was out due to suspension following a technical foul earlier in the week. Ryan Anderson scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Howard’s place.

– College Baseball – UCF 8, Tulane 7

The Knights trailed 7-0 at one point but avoided the sweep after getting four runs in the ninth inning. D.J. Hicks ended the game with a two-run single off the wall in right field to help UCF improve to 21-11 overall and 3-6 in Conference USA. UCF lost 10-8 on Friday and 6-5 on Saturday.

– College Softball – East Carolina 1, UCF 0

After winning both games on Saturday at ECU (3-2; 1-0) the Knights could not finish the sweep on Sunday. The lone run of the game came unearned in the bottom of the fifth inning on a fielder’s choice error. UCF drops to 15-23 overall and 5-7 in Conference USA.

= SATURDAY, April 9, 2011 =

– Women’s College Tennis – UCF 4, Stetson 3

The victory over Stetson (16-5) gives the Knights its 10th win in a season for the 20 straight years. After dropping two of the three doubles matches, UCF came up with big wins at the top three singles spots and at No. 6 to close out the day.

= FRIDAY, April 8, 2011 =

– College Baseball – (#8) Tampa 8, Rollins 7

The Tars dropped to 2-8 in the Sunshine State Conference despite multiple hits from Tony Brunetti, Kevin Mager and Winter Park High School alum Nick Adams. Tampa took a 6-4 advantage by posting runs in the fifth and sixth innings before going on to lead 8-5 following a pair of runs in the eighth. The Tars went on to drop the following two games 16-4 and 10-3 in the series.

= THURSDAY, April 7, 2011 =

– Women’s College Tennis – UCF 6, North Florida 1

UCF improved to 9-7 with the win over UNF (12-5). The Knights will host the C-USA Women’s Tennis Championship April 21-24 at the Lake Cane Tennis Center in Orlando. Admission is free for all fans.

= WEDNESDAY, April 6, 2011 =

– National Basketball Association – Magic 111, Charlotte 102 (OT)

Dwight Howard was called for his 18th technical of the season, Quentin Richardson was tossed from the game and Gilbert Arenas had his best outing as a member of the Orlando Magic as the Bobcats were eliminated from playoff contention. Despite five turnovers, Arenas led the Magic with 25 points.

– Men’s College Tennis – (#9) Rollins 9, (#25) Florida Southern 0

Rollins improved to 13-7 on the year as No. 12 Jeff Morris defeated Ivan Marevic 7-6 (10-2), 6-2 and No. 37 Arturo Baravalle put away Benoit Paradis 6-2, 6-4 in the top singles matches. Morris and Baravalle also teamed up for an 8-3 win in doubles, where they are ranked No. 14 as a pair.

– College Baseball – Rollins 2, Florida Tech 1

Kevin Mager hit a two-run homer in the first inning before the Tars (20-14) went on to hold off the Panthers (20-13) the rest of the way on Wednesday. Steven Gropler earned the win in his first start of the year.

= TUESDAY, April 5, 2011 =

– National Basketball Association – Magic 78, Milwaukee 72

Despite a tough night from the field and 21 turnovers, the Orlando Magic clinched the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with the win. The Magic missed 19 straight 3-point shots after making its first two. Dwight Howard finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds. The Bucks went on an 18-2 run to tie the game at 72-all with 2:02 left.

= MONDAY, April 4, 2011 =

– Women’s College Lacrosse – (#9) Rollins 22, Millersville 6

Freshman Caroline Lamere, out of Lake Brantley High School, and Marissa Giannerini each led the Tars by scoring five goals and finishing with an assist in the win. Rollins improves to 9-3 on the season.

– Men’s College Tennis – UCF 7, Bethune-Cookman 0

The Knights (9-11) routed BCU in its final home contest of the season, which also served as the final appearance at the UCF Tennis Complex for Blaze Schwartz. The senior earned his ninth win at No. 3 singles against Santiago Lobelo 6-0, 6-3 and joined Joe Delinks for an 8-1 win over Jeffrey Smallwood and Marc Misanovic in No. 1 doubles.

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