“I’m just proud of our players to be able to bounce back from a tough loss the other night against Charlotte. They came out tonight and showed a lot of character to get a nice win on the road,” Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ head coach Bryan Cunningham said. “We had a number of guys who found the back of the net, which is good, and more importantly we earned our first shutout of the season, and hopefully that’s a good step in the right direction. Now, all of our attention is on the start of conference play against FIU on Wednesday night.”

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ wasted no time striking first in the 7-minute mark when Deshorn Brown rebounded from a scrum in the box to put one past North Florida’s diving keeper. Brown has now scored a goal for five-consecutive games and boasts a team-high seven goals this year.

The Knights snuck in one more goal just before the half ended when McKauly Tulloch took a shot on a breakaway that was saved by Kyle Nasta, but Tulloch was able to recover the deflection and finished on an open net from six yards away.

Following the break, Romario Williams scored his first goal of the season to increase Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s edge to 3-0 in the 53rd minute.

The Knights capped off the night with one final goal in the 71st minute. Jeff Michaud nearly scored when he dribbled through the Osprey defense but his shot hit the post. Malcolm Reed rebounded the attempt and finished on the open net, giving Michaud the assist.

The contest with the Ospreys served as Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s final non-league match of the year. The Knights will open Conference USA play Wednesday, hosting FIU at 7 p.m. at the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Soccer Complex.

Wednesday’s game versus FIU will be the first of four home league contests for the Knights.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is coming off one of the finest seasons in school history. The Knights spent nearly the entire 2011 season in the top 25 nationally, moving to as high as No. 6, and again picked up a victory in the NCAA Championship.

“We are very excited to add this class,” Cunningham said. “We feel great about these young men. They fulfill a lot of needs, not just replacing our group of seniors that just left, but moving forward as we prepare to head to the BIG EAST. This group will get us well on our way.”

Anton Sealey, 6-1/200, D, Nassau, Bahamas/North Carolina

Bryan Cunningham on Anton Sealey: “He is a ball-winner. Anton is versatile – he can play center back or right back and he has come in and blended in right away with our back four. We look forward to big things from him. Anton is a tremendous athlete. He is building up his fitness level now and is getting his touch back.”

Mason Miller, 6-0/180, M, Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands HS

Bryan Cunningham on Mason Miller: “Mason is a very versatile player. We liked him from the minute that we saw him play. He fits into how we do things. He is a hard worker and a winner. He can play a number of positions and we feel really good about Mason coming in here and helping right away.”

Michael Russo, 5-7/145, M, McLean, Va./McLean HS

Bryan Cunningham on Michael Russo: “Michael is a tremendous soccer player. We saw him a few years ago and put him right on our list. He can handle the ball. He loves to play holding midfield, which is where we expect him to play. He is very intelligent for his age and we look forward to having Michael come in and fit right into our system and style of play.”

Romario Williams, 5-11/173, M, Portmore, Jamaica/Kingston College

Bryan Cunningham on Romario Williams: “Romario is a fantastic midfielder. He is here with us in the spring and is doing very well. We look forward to great things from him. He is very technical and sees the field very well. He moves the ball very well and has a lot of bite to play in that center midfield role for us.”