And speaking of basketball, there is plenty of excitement surrounding the UCF men’s program this season. A new coach. A new style of play. Can Donnie Jones make fans forget about Kirk Speraw? I think so.

The soccer teams at Rollins College have had little trouble this season. Well, aside from the conference tournaments, I suppose. But can they parlay their Top-25 rankings into advancing past the first two rounds of the Division II tournament for a change?

And speaking of soccer, the men’s team at UCF has not been this good for quite some time. They are now just one win away from the Conference USA title game, which will be broadcast nationally. Here’s hoping a similar fate as the one that caught the women’s team on Sunday is not waiting around the corner.

– Magic Lose First Game at Amway Center –

The Orlando Magic got a little taste of what it must feel like to be the Miami Heat this week. On Wednesday the Magic held an 18-point lead over the Utah Jazz before eventually losing its first game at the new Amway Center 104-94.

Just one night before, Utah trailed by 22 points before defeating the Miami Heat in overtime 116-114.

Orlando (5-2) turned the ball over 21 times and shot 37.5-percent from beyond the arc.

Vince Carter led the Magic with 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting (4-of-10 from 3-point range). Jameer Nelson returned from an ankle injury to score 19 points with 7 assists and 4 rebounds. Rashard Lewis made 3-of-7 shots from long range and 6-of-15 from the field to finish with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Dwight Howard took just eight shots and finished with 14 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots, but had 6 turnovers in the loss.

– New Era Begins For UCF Hoops –

A new head coach leads the UCF men’s basketball program into a new era on Friday when the Knights host West Florida at the UCF Arena at 7 p.m. West Florida finished 11-14 a year ago while UCF went 15-17.

The first 1,000 fans inside the arena Friday will receive a free Donnie Jones mask to commemorate his first game on the sidelines with the Knights.

Jones took over for long-time coach Kirk Speraw on March 29 after previously leading the way at fellow Conference USA foe Marshall. He spent 11 years as an assistant at the University of Florida and holds a career record of 55-41 in three years as head coach.

Jones brings to UCF an aggressive up-tempo style on both ends of the court.

The Knights return sophomore forward Keith Clanton of Orlando Christian Prep, a C-USA All-Freshman Team selection a year ago who averaged 9.7 points and a team-best 6.8 rebounds. In all, eight letterwinners return with seven newcomers added to the team. Along with Clanton, rounding out the starting lineup for Friday are junior A.J. Rompza, sophomore Marcus Jordan, junior Isaac Sosa and senior transfer Tom Herzog at center out of Michigan State. Jordan also made the all-conference freshman team.

UCF is scheduled to play 17 games at home this season. The Knights host Jackson State on Monday and USF on Thursday, Nov. 18. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

– Rollins College Soccer Teams in NCAA Field –

The NCAA Division II Soccer Championship chase begins this week for both the men’s and women’s programs at Rollins College.

The men’s team is ranked No. 7 in the nation and carries an 11-3-3 record into Friday night’s match at home against West Florida (14-4-2) at 8 p.m. The winner takes on either Tampa (14-6-1) or Barry (10-3-3) on Sunday at 3 p.m. in Winter Park.

The postseason bid for the men is the 11th in program history for the Tars. Rollins has reached the second round four times but has never advanced further.

Leading the team is Sunshine State Conference Defensive Player of the Year Thomas Biddinger, fellow all-conference first-teamer Jack Clifford and freshman goalkeeper Keneil Baker.

The women’s team is ranked No. 13 in the nation and carries a 10-4-2 record into Sunday’s match at home against either Florida Southern (10-5-3) or Florida Tech (9-6-2) at 12 p.m. in Winter Park.

The Tars are led by a senior class made up of Jessica Deese, Chelsea Brady, Marie Sapper, Leah Hirsch and SSC Defensive Player of the Year Meagan Thomas.

– UCF Men’s Soccer in C-USA Semifinals –

On Friday the UCF men’s soccer team faces off with Tulsa in the Conference USA Tournament semifinals at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex in Memphis at 8:30 p.m.

The Knights earned the No. 2 seed and a bye in the opening round of the tournament with a 4-1-3 record in league play. Tulsa, the three-time defending tournament champions, came in as the No. 6 seed. They defeated Kentucky 5-0 to advance on Wednesday. Tulsa and UCF closed out the regular season in a 1-1 tie.

UCF (11-3-3) is led by six players who were recently voted to all-conference teams. Among the first-teamers are sophomore Nik Robson and juniors Warren Creavalle and Kevan George. Senior captain Yaron Bacher and goalkeeper Shawn Doyle were honored with spots on the second and third teams, respectively. Steven Lamberta was named to the all-freshman team.

Top-seeded SMU takes on South Carolina in the other semifinal on Friday. The winners will meet up to decide the championship on Sunday at 3 p.m. on CBS College Sports.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

Shawn Doyle

Doyle helped No. 24 UCF come away with wins of 2-0 and 3-0 by way of recording six saves in all for the Knights.

The Ft. Myers native now has five shutouts on the season. He credits the efforts of his teammates for helping make those defensive stands a reality.

“The team’s defense as a whole has worked well all season,” he said. “I haven’t had to make too many saves and that’s a credit to them as they have been throwing their bodies around and blocking shots for me.”

The Knights have now won five in a row and stand at 8-2 overall and 4-0 in C-USA. Doyle has a 0.59 goals against average this season as he’s allowed just six goals and made 27 saves thus far. UCF goes on the road to take on Kentucky, South Carolina and Virginia Tech before returning home to host Stetson on Oct. 26.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

– UCF Women’s Soccer –

The first Ratings Percentage Index of the season was relesed by the NCAA on Tuesday with the UCF women’s soccer team coming in at No. 14 in the nation out of 322 teams. The RPI is used to help determine the 64-team NCAA postseason field.

In her 12th season, head coach Amanda Cromwell has the Knights out to an 8-2-2 start and 3-0-1 mark in Conference USA. UCF hosts Houston (No. 48 RPI) and Rice (No. 41), who are tied for first place at 4-0-0 in C-USA, this weekend.

– UCF Men’s Soccer –

The win over No. 5 SMU over the weekend garnered the UCF men’s soccer team some attention this week.

Junior midfielder Spencer Scott was named Conference USA Co-Offensive Player of the Week along with Bradlee Baladez of South Carolina, and also earned a spot on the College Soccer News National Team of the Week for his efforts against the Mustangs.

Scott was recognized after scoring the game-winning goal against SMU, his third of the year, to help the Knights earn the first-ever victory over a Top-10 opponent.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

An announced crowd of 1,091 was on hand to witness the upset. It’s the first win over a Top-10 opponent in program history and keeps the Knights unbeaten in Conference USA.

“It’s a big win for the program,” head coach Bryan Cunningham said afterwards. “From start to finish, the players executed the game plan perfectly other than the one beautiful goal they (SMU) scored. Having such a large and supportive crowd behind us the whole game was unbelievable. The fans were really great tonight for us.”

UCF (6-2-0, 2-0 in C-USA) entered the game just 0-3-2 all-time against SMU (9-1-1, 1-1).

With 25 minutes to play Scott took a pass from sophomore A.J. Nelson at midfield, made a charge toward the goal, then connected on a high shot in the top right corner of the net from 20 yards out.

Sophomore Nik Robson scored in the 11^th minute to give UCF an early lead before SMU tied the game in the 26th minute to send the teams into the halftime break even at 1-1. Sophomore goalkeeper Shawn Doyle finished with three saves and benefited from the help of UCF defenders playing in front of him.

The Knights are back in action on Tuesday, Oct. 5 at home against Florida International then on Saturday, Oct. 9 at home against Memphis. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

– More UCF Men’s Soccer –

The Knights started the season by defeating Jacksonville, Florida Atlantic and Long Island by a combined 11-0 tally while losing to UNC Wilmington, 1-0, and Massachusetts 2-1. UCF entered the matchup against SMU having scored 2-1 wins over both Army and Marshall.

UCF is averaging 2.25 goals per game while allowing just 0.75 thus far. Doyle has played every minute in goal in 2010, making 21 saves over eight games.

Robson leads the team with seven goals and four assists while Scott has three goals and four assists. Junior Cameron Cooksey has three goals and an assist this season, and senior Yaron Bacher has a goal and three assists.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

Keown-Robson

Two UCF men’s soccer players were nationally recognized for season-opening individual efforts as sophomore Nicholas Keown-Robson was named Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week and junior Cameron Cooksey got a spot on the TopDrawSoccer.com Men’s Team of the Week.

Keown-Robson accounted for eight points in two shutout wins for the Knights against Jacksonville (5-0) on Sept. 1, and Florida Atlantic (4-0) Sept. 6. He led UCF with eight goals and six assists as a freshman in 2009.

Cooksey

Against Jacksonville, the New Zealand native assisted on the first two goals of the game and scored on a penalty kick late in the first half. Against FAU, he scored off a setup from teammate Eduardo Jimenez in the 47th minute and again on a penalty kick in the 82nd minute.

Cooksey, out of Marietta, Ga., scored twice against Jacksonville (in the 23rd and 89th minutes) and added an assist for five total points. He was also credited with helping spark the offense in UCF’s win over Florida Atlantic.

UCF (2-0) is scheduled to hit the road for the next five matches as they’ll travel North Carolina, Massachusetts, New York and West Virginia before returning home Oct. 2 for a C-USA contest against SMU.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

Michelle Dillingham (Photo by Jim Hogue)

Sophomore goalkeeper Michelle Dillingham recorded nine saves as the Rollins College women’s soccer team advanced to the third round of the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second year in a row after scoring a 3-0 win over Florida Tech on Saturday.

The win marked the 13^th time that Rollins has shut out an opponent this season. This Friday the Tars (16-1-2) take on unbeaten West Florida (20-0-0).

Against Florida Tech, Meagan Thomas scored a goal in the 31^st minute on a soft header into the net while Jessica Deese and Chelsea Brady added goals in the second half.

The winner between Rollins and West Florida will take on either Carson-Newman (19-2-1) or Columbus State (16-2-3) in the quarterfinals on Sunday, Nov. 22. The Division II semi-finals and final will be held Dec. 3 and Dec. 5 in Tampa, FL.

Division II Women’s Tournament Bracket

–– Rollins Men’s Soccer ––

Tampa ended the season for the top-seeded Rollins men’s soccer team after getting out to a 2-0 lead in the first half and holding off the Tars 2-1 in the second round of the Division II Tournament.

The Tars got on the board when Jacob Deloach sent the ball in the box where Bradley Welch was there to score on a header in the 66^th minute. The loss ended the season for Rollins, who finished with the best season in program history and a 17-3-1 record.

–– UCF Women’s Soccer ––

The No. 3 seeded UCF women’s soccer team scored a 3-0 first-round win in the NCAA Division I Tournament on Friday against UW-Milwaukee behind two goals from Courtney Whidden and a shutout by keeper Aline Reis. But two days later they succumbed to host Wisconsin, 1-0, in the second round on Sunday.

The loss ended the season for the Knights, who were competing in the tournament for the 14^th time, with a 17-5-1 record after being ranked as high as No. 8 in the country. UCF has been unable to advance past the second round since 1987. The Knights also advanced to the tournament in 2004, 2007 and 2008.

Reis had seven saves in the opening-round win as she held off four shots from Sarah Hagen, the nation’s leading goal scorer, to notch her 13^th shutout in just two seasons at UCF. Alex Brandt scored the third goal of the game for the Knights in the 77^th minute.

With the loss in the second round, senior Becca Thomas ended her career fourth all-time in assists with 29 while Whidden ended her career ranked sixth in goals scored with 33, second in game winner with 13 and eighth all-time in total points with 77.

Thomas and Whidden were part of a senior class that over the course of four years won 57 games, two Conference USA titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times.

–– UCF Men’s Soccer ––

The UCF men’s soccer team failed to advance to the postseason tournament after finishing the season 6-7-3 overall and 2-5-1 in Conference USA. Midfielders Yaron Bacher and Kevan George were selected to the All-Conference USA Second Team while forward Nicholas Robson was named to both the Third Team and all-conference Freshman Team.