Robson netted the game-winning goal at the 70-minute mark. Senior Spencer Scott (Palm City, Fla.) set up the score with a cross that was handled inside the box by freshman Matthew Gaskins (St. Petersburg, Fla.) before a spinning Robson shot across his body past Tulsa (5-10-0, 1-5-0) goalkeeper Michael Murray.

Robson, who now has six goals on the year, tied the match in the 65th minute when he scored on a free kick from 20 yards out.

The win over Tulsa was the first in nine tries for the Knights, who improved to 5-1 at home in 2011 with the victory. The Golden Hurricane grabbed a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the match when a Tulsa header bounced off a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ defender and was controlled by Quinn Starker, who fired a shot above Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ redshirt freshman goalkeeper Sebastian Evers (Miami, Fla).

“We knew that this was going to be a tough match,” Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ head coach Bryan Cunningham said. “You can throw their record out. They are one of the best teams in the league. We knew it was going to be a battle. The players were up for it. Going down a goal early never helps, but give our players a lot of credit. We were able to battle back and come out of here with a nice win.”

The Golden Hurricane threatened to tie the match late, but the Knights clamped down defensively. With just over a minute to play, Murray left his usual position and fired off shot on goal. Evers, who was making his collegiate debut, made a diving save to knock away the surprising shot from his counterpart.

The contest was the first at home for the Knights since Sept. 28. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ was slated to host South Carolina on Oct. 8, but the match was postponed due to heavy rains.

“People were saying, `you guys never play.’ We have not been home in a while, it is nice to be back,” Robson said. “(Conference games) are always tough. The last few minutes are always going to be a battle like that. We have learned our lessons from games where we have let a goal in the last minute, this year and last year. But we don’t do that anymore.”

The physical contest featured 32 total fouls and four yellow cards.

Evers totaled six saves in the winning effort. Tulsa recorded 11 shots, while the Knights had nine shots, with seven coming after halftime.

Junior Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) gave Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ a 1-0 edge with a goal at the 32-minute mark. Two minutes later, junior Eduardo Jimenez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) scored. Sophomore McKauly Tulloch (Kingston, Jamaica), who leads the country in points per game, scored twice in the second half and now has 12 goals in only eight matches this season.

With the triumph, the Knights snapped a three-match winning streak for the Mustangs (5-1, 0-1). SMU was coming off a 2-1 victory at No. 18 UCLA.

“SMU is a first-class team. Tonight we knew that we would need a quick start,” Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ head coach Bryan Cunningham said. “We were able to go up 2-0 and that got us going for the rest of the match.”

The contest was the second this week against a ranked opponent for the Knights. On Wednesday, host Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ opened C-USA play with a thrilling 2-1 overtime win over Kentucky. The Wildcats are ranked 21st nationally by the NSCAA. SMU is listed at No. 21 in the Soccer America poll.

Robson put Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ on the board in the first half after he corralled a rebound and scored from six yards out. Just over two minutes later, Tulloch crossed the ball over to Jimenez who beat SMU goalkeeper Jamie Ibarra.

Tulloch’s first goal came at the 55-minute mark from eight yards out and was assisted by senior Warren Creavalle (Acworth, Ga.). He added another score 14 minutes later off a feed from senior Kevan George (Roxborough, Trinidad).

The win over SMU was the second-straight for the Knights, who posted a 2-1 victory over the fifth-ranked Mustangs last year in Orlando. Playing SMU for the fourth time in on the road, the Knights picked up their first win in Dallas Saturday.

“Playing at SMU is never easy,” Cunningham said. “It is extremely difficult for a road team to win at SMU. I am very proud of our players. They took advantage of chances. This was a great win.”

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ improved to 4-0-1 away from home this season.

Junior Shawn Doyle (Fort Myers, Fla.) totaled six saves in the win. SMU got goals from Ben Hill at the 42-minute mark and Damian Rosales with 17 minutes to play.

Eight Knights each logged 90 minutes in the contest.

As a result of Sunday’s big win, the Knights have matched the 1997 and 2001 Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ squads for the best start in school history at the Division I level.

The Knights, who outshot Mercer (1-3-1) 17-8 during the match, led 2-0 at halftime after a pair of goals from sophomore McKauly Tulloch (Kingston, Jamaica). The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ advantage grew to 4-0 nine minutes into the second half after junior Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) and senior Cameron Cooksey (Marietta, Ga.) both scored within a minute.

“I was really happy with our player’s attitude,” Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ head coach Bryan Cunningham said. “We were playing on the road and our approach was very professional. We were ready to go at the opening whistle, and never looked back.”

Tulloch, who scored on a quick turnaround shot from 20 yards out 15 minutes into the match and then beat Mercer goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh on a breakaway setup by Robson with 40:54 on the clock, recorded six shots and also assisted on Cooksey’s goal. The Knights were aggressive from the start as Tulloch had a pair of shots on goal the first five minutes of the match. Later, his two goals brought his total on the year to eight in only five matches.

Robson opened the scoring in the second half by getting past Ranjitsingh on a penalty kick at the 48:43 mark. Less than one minute later, Tulloch took a shot and Cooksey scored off the rebound.

Three minutes after the Bears got on the board with a Ehjayson Henry goal, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ junior Luiz Yamashita (Sao Paulo, Brazil) scored from inside the box, assisted by Cooksey and senior Kevan George (Decatur, Ga.).

Nineteen Knights saw action against the Bears.

“We were good going forward today. A lot of players got involved,” Cunningham said. “It was good to see us finish our chances. We were able to get every player minutes today. That will help us in the long run.”

Junior Shawn Doyle (Fort Myers, Fla.) logged just over 71 minutes in the winning effort and posted one save before sophomore Will Hectico (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) entered the contest.

Last week, Creavalle became the first player in program history to be named to the NSCAA/Performance Subaru All-South Region First Team for his play in 2010.

Junior Kevan George (Roxborough, Trinidad) and sophomore Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) joined Creavalle when they both earned All-South Region Third Team honors, marking the first time that Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ has had three players selected by the NSCAA for its regional team.

Creavalle is just one of two players from Conference USA to be named to the NSCAA All-American Teams. Joining Creavalle from C-USA is SMU’s Arthur Ivo, who was named to the second team.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s junior midfielder finished the season with four goals and four assists for eight points, putting himself on a list as one of the best at his position in the country. In all, he was honored as the first-ever Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ player named an All-American and the first named to the NSCAA All-South Region First Team, to go along with his spot on the All-Conference USA First Team.

But it was Alashe’s goal four minutes into overtime that was the heart-breaking end to the Knights’ historic 2010 season. Hamoody Saad’s freekick from 35 yards out was deflected by a leaping Alashe inside the box into the far corner of the net for the sudden-victory tally.

Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) opened the scoring just nine minutes in on a touch inside the box past the sprawling Michigan goalkeeper, Chris Blais. Cameron Cooksey’s (Marietta, Ga.) throw-in from just in front of the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ bench sailed over the Wolverine defense to the top of the box. Sophomore A.J. Nelson (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) headed the ball to the far post where Robson was waiting to knock in his 11th goal of the season.

Despite Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ scoring the only goal of the half, Michigan dominated play in the early going. The Wolverines finally broke through with the tying goal from Justin Meram in the 50th minute.

Michigan continued to dominate the second half as it had several scoring opportunities throughout the period. All were turned aside by Doyle and the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ defense.

It looked as if the Wolverines would score the go-ahead goal with just over 11 minutes showing on the clock, but sophomore Andrew Quintana (Miami, Fla.) cleared the ball off the line and away from danger in front of the Knights’ goal.

The Wolverines continued to control play through the end of regulation and into overtime leading to the game winner.

Michigan will now move on to play Conference USA Champion South Carolina next Sunday in Columbia.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ stormed to a commanding two-goal lead in a dominant first half and got a third goal in the second half from emotional senior leader Yaron Bacher to rout arch-rival USF 3-0 for the second NCAA victory in school history.

“We don’t think there’s a team in the country that can stop us when we play our game,” Bacher said. “We just have to stay focused, keep working hard and not get ahead of ourselves.”

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ got a header from Ben Hunt and a penalty kick from Nik Robson in a first half in which it outshot the Bulls (9-6-4) 10-3. The Knights won in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004 when they beat FIU 1-0 in the first round.

Bacher, one of just three seniors on Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s youth-filled team, scored on a rocket of a kick from 25 yards out in the 65th minute to put the game out of reach. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s 3-0 win is the most lopsided victory against USF in 29 games all-time.

In the final minutes of the game, head coach Bryan Cunningham embraced Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Athletics Director Keith Tribble for an emotional hug. Cunningham told Tribble last fall that he felt Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ was on the verge of a breakthrough season, and he proved true with the Knights re-writing the record books much of this season.

“I think I was the first head coach that Keith hired here and it’s always been my goal to make him proud,” Cunningham said. “He does so much for us and for me personally and he’s always believed in us even when we weren’t so good. He believed in my vision and I love beating USF and I know he loves it when we beat USF. It’s great for our athletics department.”

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ (12-4-3) advances to face 10th-seeded Michigan (14-4-3) on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Ann Arbor, Mich. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ was hosting a men’s NCAA soccer game for the first time in the program’s history, and the Knights continued to be nearly unbeatable at home. The Knights posted their seventh home shutout at home this season in nine games and have allowed just three goals in Orlando all year.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s strong suit all season has been its defense. The Knights allowed just 15 goals in 18 games all season. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ goalkeeper Shawn Doyle, who was rarely tested on Thursday, had his eighth shutout of the season.

“In the past we really hadn’t had that homefield advantage feeling, but this year we have the motto to protect our house,” Bacher said. “We’re really priding ourselves on that this year.”

The Knights had double-digit wins this season for the first time since 2004, fulfilling the vast promise that Cunningham saw in the squad coming into the season. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ was the lone team to beat national powerhouse SMU during the regular season, and authored its longest unbeaten streak in 25 years (nine games) throughout the regular season.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ jumped to a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute of the first half on a header by Hunt, a sophomore, that was set up by a throw-in from the left side. Seconds later, the Knights briefly thought they had gone ahead 2-0, but Warren Creavalle’s boot from the left hit the side of the net.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ did take a commanding 2-0 lead in the final minute of the first half when Creavalle was fouled in the box and the Knights were awarded a penalty kick. Robson, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s star sophomore from Auckland, New Zealand, drilled the penalty kick past the keeper for the team’s second goal.

Robson proved himself to be an elite offensive player during the regular season, scoring nine goals and delivering nine assists to give him the 19th-best point total (27) in the nation.

“This game shows that it’s a new era for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½,” Robson said. “I think this is the best game that Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ has ever had. I think we’re going to be really good for years to come.”

Back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since winning the Atlantic Sun three-straight years from 2002-04, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ entered the NCAA’s ranked No. 29 in the RPI. The Knights hadn’t played since Nov. 12, a 2-1 loss to Tulsa in the Conference USA Tournament, but used that loss as motivation for Thursday’s game.

“The team was so re-energized when we found out that we got the (NCAA) bid on Monday. We’ve been awesome at home all year long and I really felt good about the game today,” Cunningham said. “USF is a tremendous team, but the boys stuck to the game plan, executed and a shutout is great against a high-powered team like them.”

John Denton’s Knights Insider appears on Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½athletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.

“When I had my meeting with Mr. Tribble last December, we were coming off a bad year, but I really thought this would be the year that we were going to turn the corner,” said Cunningham, who is in his fourth season at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. “My first (recruiting class), they’re now all juniors and coming into their own. They know the system and they’re teaching it to the younger players. Slowly but surely, they’re building this to where we want it to be – a Top 25 team.”

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s season-long transformation comes full circle on Thursday at 5 p.m. when the Knights (11-4-3) hosts in-state rival USF (9-5-4). The two teams didn’t play this season, but the Bulls did beat Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, 2-1, last season. Cunningham is confident that the Knights will be ready after playing a league schedule that included four Conference USA squads that qualified for the NCAA tournament.

“In Conference USA, you play a lot of good teams. I think we finished with six teams in the top 60 in the RPI and four teams in the top 30,” Cunningham said. “So I think we’re ready for the challenges that await us. Playing those teams and winning some of those games and getting some results helped us big time.”

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ went into the Conference USA Tournament last week as the second seed, but lost, 2-1, to Tulsa. The Knights then had to await their fate in the NCAA Tournament, hoping for an at-large bid. And on the nationally televised Selection Show, the Knights were one of the final four teams announced, heightening the tension for the team.

The Knights not only got in, but they also earned a home game date against the rival Bulls. And if they win, they will play on the road against the No. 10 University of Michigan on Sunday at 2 p.m.

“It says a lot about the season that we had and also the respect for Conference USA. We placed four teams in the NCAA Tournament and all four teams will be playing at home in the first or second round, which is great,” Cunningham said. “It’s the first time we’ve hosted and the first time we’ve received an at-large bid. So give all of the credit to the players and the assistant coaches for pushing everything all together this year. We’ve talked about one game at a time and it’s all paying off right now.”

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ got to this point because of the dynamic playmaking of forward Nik Robson (nine goals, nine assists and 27 points) and the passing of Spencer Scott (eight assists) and a stingy defense that allowed just three goals at home all season. For the season, the Knights outscored foes 37-16 and were the lone team in the regular season to beat fifth-seeded SMU.

The combination of senior leadership provided by Yaron Bacher, Camilo Rendon and Josh Andone combined with the youth of Robson (sophomore), Scott (junior), Kevn George (junior), Cameron Cooksey (junior) and Warren Creavalle (junior) have given the Knights the right mix to author their most special season ever.

“We always believed in the players and what we were capable of. And we knew the caliber of the kids that we were bringing in to the team for this year,” Cunningham said. “We really felt like we were about to turn a corner and be writing some history, which we are doing this year.”

Senior captain Yaron Bacher (Atlanta, Ga.) was honored with a spot on the second team and goalkeeper Shawn Doyle (Ft. Myers, Fla.) was selected to the third team. Steven Lamberta (Temecula, Calif.) was also honored with a spot on the C-USA All-Freshman Team.

Tulsa was the other program to have three members selected to the 11-member All-Conference First Team. Robson, the league’s leading scorer, was selected to the first team one season after being named to the third and the all-freshman teams in 2009. Robson scored eight goals and had nine assists in his second year with the Knights to lead all of C-USA with 25 points.

For the third-straight season, George earned a spot on an all-conference team. As a freshman, George was selected to the First Team before being named to the Second Team as a sophomore last year. In 2010, George earns a spot on the First Team with his stellar play in the midfield as he finished tied for fourth on the team with four assists.

Creavalle rounds out the trio of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ players on the All-Conference First Team. The third-year midfielder tied for fourth on the team in scoring with 11 points on four goals and three assists and helped the Knights to their best season since joining the conference in 2005.

Bacher was named to the All-Conference Second Team for the second-consecutive season. Bacher, a senior captain, has been an anchor on the Knights’ defense that allowed a league-low 13 goals in 2010. Besides being a defensive mainstay for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, Bacher was third on the team with five assists, while adding a goal in the season opener against Jacksonville on Sept. 1.

Doyle, a sophomore goalkeeper, was a major reason for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s success in 2010, posting the league’s top save percentage (.814) and goals-against average (0.73) to earn a spot on the All-C-USA Third Team. His seven shutouts were also tied for the most by any keeper in the conference this season.

Finally, Lamberta was recognized as one of the league’s top young players with a spot on the C-USA All-Freshman Team. He earned the distinction with strong play in the midfield during his first season with the Knights. Lamberta joins Robson (2009) and George (2008) as the only current members of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ to have been named to the All-Freshman Team during their careers.

Blake Brettschneider of South Carolina and Arthur Ivo of SMU were named the Co-Offensive and Co-Most Valuable Players of the Year. Goalkeeper Daniel Withrow of Marshall was named the Defensive Player of the Year, while SMU’s Juan Castillo was named the Freshman of the Year. SMU’s Tim McClements was named the Coach of the Year for leading his team to a 15-1 mark overall and 7-1 in league play. The only loss of the season for the Mustangs came at the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Soccer Complex, 2-1, on Oct. 2.

The Knights will begin play in the 2010 C-USA Tournament at Memphis’ Mike Rose Soccer Complex on Friday at 8:30 p.m. in the second semifinal of the day. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ earned the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinals and will play the winner Wednesday’s game between Kentucky and Tulsa.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ again scored a late first-half goal, with junior Warren Creavalle (Acworth, Ga.) netting his second of the season with just 40 seconds remaining. Sophomore Eduardo Jimenez (San Juan, Puerto Rico), fresh off his first career goal in the Knights’ last game, picked up an assist, as well as senior and team captain Yaron Bacher (Atlanta, Ga.) on the game’s opening tally.

“It was huge for us to get that goal and some momentum headed into the half,” head coach Bryan Cunningham said.

“After scoring out first goal, we are always looking for that second goal,” Creavalle said. “After half, we wanted to go out and we were able to get it early on in the half.”

That early second-half goal came from junior Cameron Cooksey (Marietta, Ga.) in the 56th minute. The third-year forward was able to take a pass from Creavalle and find the back of the net for his fourth of the season. Sophomore Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) was also credited with an assist after putting the centering pass to Creavalle to start the play.

Robson was not done, collecting the primary assist on Luiz Yamashita’s (Sao Paulo, Brazil) goal in the 70th minute for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s third goal. Robson’s shot was blocked out into the middle of the penalty box to a waiting Yamashita, who corralled the loose ball and put into the net for his second goal in as many games.

Robson now has three assists in his last two games and has at least one point in each of the Knights’ last seven contests.

After holding the Tigers without a shot through the first 82 minutes of play, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ goalkeeper Shawn Doyle (Ft. Myers, Fla.) was tested several times in the final minutes. Stopping a Memphis shot pointblank, Doyle also had to turn aside a rebound from the foot of Parker Duncan waiting on the door step.

The second-year keeper has now posted consecutive shutouts and has five this season.

“As a whole, the team has played really hard and that’s what we’ve been trying to do this entire year,” Doyle said. “We’ve had the success so far because we have outworked teams and I think that defensively we have been grinding out games and that’s how we have these shutouts.”

The Knights’ defense again was on its game, limiting opportunities and tightening in the final minutes with Memphis continuing to sustain offensive pressure.

“This is a conference game and you knew that Memphis would be fighting every minute of the match,” Cunningham added. “Credit to all the players for holding that team off in the late stages and not allow them to score one against us, which is always nice.”

The Knights head back on the road for their next game. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ will travel to Lexington, Ky., to take on Kentucky on Oct. 13 for the start of a three-game road swing.

The win keeps the Knights unbeaten in Conference USA play at 2-0 and 6-2 overall, while the loss drops the previously unbeaten Mustangs to 1-1 in league play and 9-1 overall.

With exactly 25 minutes remaining in the game, Scott corralled a pass from sophomore A.J. Nelson (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) at midfield and sprinted toward goal. From 20 yards out, Scott fired a hard, high shot that found its way into the top right corner. SMU goalkeeper Craig Hill dove to his left, deflecting the ball with his hand, but the power behind Scott’s drive was too much for the Mustangs’ keeper to stop.

“It’s my mom’s birthday today, so when I scored I just wanted to get over to where she was and tell her that was her present,” Scott said. “That was one of the biggest goals of my playing career and that was the biggest win we have since I’ve been here.”

“It’s a big win for the program,” head coach Bryan Cunningham said. “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.”

Sophomore Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) scored his seventh goal of the season with a brilliant move around the Mustang defense in the 11th minute for the game’s opening tally. Warren Creavalle (Acworth, Ga.) beat a defender just inside midfield and put a touch pass to his left to the sprinting Robson. The second-year Knight made a quick move to his right, turning the SMU defender around, and put a low show inside the far post to make it 1-0 for the Black and Gold.

Robson has now scored in each of the last three games and ranks among the nation’s best point-producing players this season.

SMU tied the game in the 26th minute on Jusue Soto’s third goal of the year. Positioned near the goal line to the left of the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ goal, Robbie Derschang put a pass on the foot of Soto at the top of the penalty box. Soto fired a shot to the upper right corner for the equalizer and sent the teams into halftime tied, 1-1.

Scott’s goal was his third of the season, while Nelson collected his first assist of the 2010 campaign on the game winner.

Following Scott’s marker, SMU turned up the intensity, pushing for the goal that would tie the game and keep their unbeaten season alive. Those hopes were dashed by the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ goalkeeper Shawn Doyle (Ft. Myers, Fla.) in the final minutes of the match.

Doyle recorded three saves in the game and prevented the Mustangs’ last-ditch efforts for the equalizer from happening. However, Doyle received tremendous support in front of him from the Knights’ defense.

Twice in the final seconds, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ defenders were able to knock the ball out of danger and clear it from the penalty box.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Knights’ bench erupted in celebration with the 2-1 victory. The win was also the first in program history over the Mustangs. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ had previously been 0-3-2 against SMU entering Friday night’s contest.

“It was a massive step forward winning that game and moving to 2-0 in the conference,” Cunningham added. “As a whole the conference is doing incredibly well this year and to beat a team of SMU’s caliber is a big step for this team and something that I hope will carry over to FIU.”

The Knights return to action on Tuesday, Oct. 5 when they host Florida International at the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Soccer Complex at 7 p.m. The game can also be seen live on the Bright House Sports Network.