Knight traded his SBCC red for Louisville red

The four teams are out of the east and midwest, but there is a Santa Barbara connection to the NCAA Men’s College Cup.

Mark Knight, who tore it up as a goal scorer for Santa Barbara City College, pouring in a school-record 59 goals in his two year career, is a member of Louisville soccer team that is making its College Cup debut.

Former Santa Barbara City College player Mark Knight, who scored 59 goals in two years before heading to Louisville.

Knight unfortunately won’t be playing on Friday when the top-seeded and undefeated Cardinals (18-0-3) take on No. 4 North Carolina (16-3-4) in the first national semifinal game at 5:30 p.m. at Harder Stadium. Akron (20-1-2) plays Michigan (17-4-3) in the second semifinal at 8 p.m.

The national championship match is Sunday at 1 p.m.

Knight is taking a medical redshirt year after suffering a serious shoulder injury early in the season.

“i suffered a dislocation and complete labral tear to the right shoulder during the third game of the season against Fordham on September 10,” said Knight in an email interview with Presidiosports.com. “I am two months into recovery after surgery and everything is looking up. i still have a way to go until 100 percent full recovery, but I have been training with the team now for two to three weeks.”

Knight, a native of England, started 20 matches for the Cardinals last season and scored seven goals and had six assists for 20 points, second best on the squad. This season, he had a goal and an assist before going down with the injury.

Louisville missed his production, but the team didn’t miss a beat and kept on winning. The Cardinals captured their division in the Big East and won the conference tournament to earn an automatic NCAA bid.

Knight said he knew the Cardinals had the potential to reach the College Cup after taking his recruiting trip to Louisville.

“i joined a program i knew could make it,” he said. “That was the reason i came to the University of Louisville, because i knew it had the potential to become No. 1 in the nation.”

He said the team top to bottom is full of star players. “We do not just rely on 11 players. We have 21 players that can go on the field and do the job. There are also seven redshirts that are part of the team and each of them deserve to be in it. The future of the program looks bright.”

Knight has committed to play for the Cardinals next season.

A major characteristic of the Cardinals is their team unity, which is a byproduct of Ken Lolla’s coaching.

“He just asks us to go into each and everyday to do our absolute best, and give everything we have,” Knight explained. “We all believe in the same goal, and Ken
helps us and keeps us on the pursuit of that goal. We are all in this together and we are such a close-knit team on and off the field, and we are all fighting for the same thing, a national championship.”