UCF Knights men's soccer

The UCF Knights men's soccer team represents the University of Central Florida in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. As of the next NCAA men's soccer season in 2023, the Knights compete in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). This coincides with UCF's July 2023 move from the American Athletic Conference (The American), a league in which it had been a member since 2013,^[2] to the Big 12 Conference, which sponsors soccer only for women.^[3] They play their home games on UCF's main campus in Orlando, Florida at the UCF Soccer and Track Stadium. The Knights are currently led by head coach Scott Calabrese.^[4]

UCF Knights men's soccer
2023 UCF Knights men's soccer team
Founded	1975; 50 years ago (1975)
University	University of Central Florida
Head coach	Scott Calabrese (7th season)
Conference	Sun Belt
Location	Orlando, Florida
Stadium	UCF Soccer and Track Stadium (Capacity: 2,000)
Nickname	UCF Knights
Colors	Black and gold[1]
Home Away
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
2019, 2020
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023
NCAA Tournament appearances
1982, 1983, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023
Conference Tournament championships
1979, 1980, 1981, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2020
Conference Regular Season championships
2003, 2004, 2018, 2019, 2020

History

The Knights soccer program began in 1975 under Jim Rudy. The Knights went 10–4–1 that year, defeating St. Leo in their first match 8–0.^[5] In 1984, the team made the move to Division I. The Knights were nationally ranked for the first time during the 2010 season, and rose to a program high of No. 1 in the country during the 2023 season.^[5][6][7]

After UCF announced its move to the Big 12, it was forced to find a new home for men's soccer because the Big 12 only sponsors soccer for women. School officials expected to join the SBC, which reinstated men's soccer for the 2022 season with a lineup that significantly included the only then-current Big 12 member with a men's soccer program (West Virginia) and both Southeastern Conference schools that sponsor varsity men's soccer (Kentucky and South Carolina).^[8] This was confirmed on June 21, 2022, when the SBC officially announced UCF's 2023 arrival as a men's soccer member. It created two derbies: the Big 12 Derby against West Virginia, and the Big 12-SEC Challenge featuring both with Kentucky and South Carolina.

The Knights have an all-time record of 422–330–76.^[9]

Players

Current roster

As of 9 Sep 2024^[10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GER Timo Haböck 2 DF  USA Alex Smith 3 DF  FRA Gwendal Degorce 4 MF  GER Jonas Fritschi 5 MF  SEN Ousmane Ba 6 DF  BRA Anderson Rosa 7 FW  SEN Mouhamed Pouye 8 MF  FRA Yanis Belatrache 9 FW  BRA Lucca Dourado 10 FW  FRA Clarence Awoudor 11 FW  SEN Malang Mandiang 12 DF  USA Gabi Velez 13 DF  ISR Ron Ben Dakon 14 FW  POR Fabio Guerreiro

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 MF  ISR Itai Levisman 16 DF  CRC Timothy Arias 17 MF  USA Joey Mueller 18 MF  ESP Javier López Sánchez 19 MF  JPN Sora Funakoshi 20 DF  JPN Daisuke Shinko 21 FW  GHA Emmanuel Bam 22 MF  USA Drew Hansen 23 DF  GER Arne Michaelis 24 FW  USA Carlos Rojas 26 GK  USA Shane Wright 27 GK  COL Pablo Ossabal 31 GK  ESP Juanvi Muñoz

Notable alumni

UCF has produced a number of notable soccer stars. Most notably, Eric Vasquez, Sean Johnson and Ryan McIntosh.^[11] Vasquez, who made his professional soccer debut with the Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer, later played for Miami FC in the United Soccer Leagues' First Division and the Orlando Sharks of the Major Indoor Soccer League before retiring due to injury.^[12] Former Knights Goalkeeper Ryan McIntosh initially played with D.C. United, and after a year with the D.C. United Reserve team, McIntosh signed with the Atlanta Silverbacks of USL Division One, where he led the team to the league final.^[13][14][15] Both players were a part of the 2004 Central Florida Kraze amateur soccer team that won the Premier Development League's championship by defeating the Boulder Rapids Reserves, 1–0 at the UCF soccer stadium.^[16] In 2019, two of players got selected in the MLS SuperDraft that took place in Chicago.Striker Cal Jennings was picked number 15th in the first round by the FC Dallas and Defender Jonathan Dean got selected 32nd in the second round of the draft by Orlando City Soccer Club.

Sean Johnson, another former UCF goalkeeper, joined the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer in 2010.^[17] He was a member of the United States U-20 men's national soccer team which qualified for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt.^[11]

Coaches

All-time coaches

Tenure	Coach	Seasons	Record	Pct.
1975–1988	Jim Rudy	14	139–62–17	.638
1989–1992	Bill Barker	4	27–39–4	.386
1993–2004	Bob Winch	12	112–100–16	.491
2005–2006	Brent Erwin	2	13–17–3	.394
2007–2016	Bryan Cunningham	6	57–53–20	.515
2017–present	Scott Calabrese	3	36–12–7	.718
Totals	6 coaches	45 seasons	384–287–71	.565
Records are through the conclusion of the 2013 NCAA Season.

Seasons

Season	Coach	Record		Notes
		Overall	Conference
Independent
1975	Jim Rudy	10–4–1	—
1976		15–1–1	—
Sunshine State
1977	Jim Rudy	11–4–0	4–0–0
1978		4–8–0	1–2–0
1979		8–7–0	3–1–0	Sunshine State Tournament Champions
1980		12–3–1	3–0–0	Sunshine State Tournament Champions
1981		10–3–1	3–1–1	Sunshine State Tournament Champions
1982		10–4–2	4–3–0	NCAA Division II Tournament
1983		12–4–3	4–2–0	NCAA Division II Tournament
Independent
1984	Jim Rudy	8–5–3	—
1985		10–2–3	—
1986		9–5–1	—
1987		10–8–0	—
1988		10–4–1	—
1989	Bill Barker	6–10–2	—
1990		8–10–0	—
1991		5–13–0	—
1992		8–6–2	—
Trans America Athletic Conference/Atlantic Sun Conference
1993	Bob Winch	4–10–1	3–4–0
1994		9–10–2	2–3–1
1995		5–11–1	2–3–1
1996		10–7–1	4–2–0	TAAC East Division Champions
1997		12–6–0	3–5–0
1998		13–7–0	6–1–0
1999		12–7–0	3–3–0
2000		2–14–3	1–4–1
2001		12–7–0	4–3–0
2002		10–8–3	5–2–1	Atlantic Sun Tournament Champions; NCAA First round
2003		12–6–3	6–2–1	Atlantic Sun Regular Season and Tournament Champions; NCAA Second round
2004		11–7–2	7–2–0	Atlantic Sun Regular Season and Tournament Champions; NCAA Second round
Conference USA
2005	Brent Erwin	7–8–1	2–6–1
2006		6–9–2	3–3–2
2007	Bryan Cunningham	4–12–2	0–6–2
2008		7–11–1	3–4–1
2009		6–7–3	2–5–1
2010		12–5–3	4–1–3	NCAA Second round
2011		12–6–3	4–3–1	NCAA Second round
2012		8–7–3	5–3–0
American Athletic
2013	Bryan Cunningham	8–5–5	4–1–3
2014	Bryan Cunningham	2–10–6	1–3–4
2015	Bryan Cunningham	7–8–2	3–4–1
2016	Bryan Cunningham	5–11–0	5–3–0
2017	Scott Calabrese	8–6–2	4–2–1
2018	Scott Calabrese	13–3–3	5–1–1	American Regular Season Champions; NCAA Second round
2019	Scott Calabrese	15–3–2	6–0–1	American Regular Season Champions; NCAA Third round
2020–21	Scott Calabrese	9–4–1	7–3–0	American Regular Season & Tournament Champions; NCAA Third round
2021	Scott Calabrese	9–8–0	6–4–0
2022	Scott Calabrese	6–7–0	3–6–0
Sun Belt
2023	Scott Calabrese	10–4–2	6–2–1	NCAA Second round
2024	Scott Calabrese	7–6–3	5–4–0
Totals		439–340–81	144–108–29	860 games (.558)
Records are through the conclusion of the 2024 NCAA season.

Stadium

UCF Soccer and Track Stadium, home venue

The Knights play their home games at the UCF Soccer and Track Stadium which is a part of Knights Plaza, located on the north end of UCF's main campus in Orlando, Florida. The soccer field is made of natural grass and measures 347 feet (106 m) x 200 feet (61 m).^[18]

In 2011, the stadium was heavily renovated, boasting a 2,000 seat capacity with a new 1,475-seat stand, press box, 7,500 square feet (700 m²) clubhouse, restrooms and new entrance on the west side of the facility. The original 500-seat stand was retained as a visitors' stand.^[19]

See also

• UCF Knights women's soccer
• List of University of Central Florida alumni