ORLANDO, Fla. – With the 2021 season coming up, the UCF men's soccer team's defense is experienced and looking to build off of a strong 2020-21 campaign.
They return their entire back line and welcome in one newcomer. All-American Yanis Leerman is back and is a force to be reckoned with. His All-American honor was the ninth in program history. After returning from a brief injury, the Knights were a steel curtain on defense. With Leerman back in the mix, the Knights went 8-1-1 allowing only 0.48 goals per game prior to the last match of the season. He was named to the All-Conference First Team and well as the All-Tournament Team.
Anderson Rosa looks to build off of a strong freshman season where he was unanimously named to The American's All-Rookie Team. He was named AAC Defensive Player of the Week twice and Rookie of the Week once. He was ranked the No. 14 college freshman by TopDrawer Soccer to end the 2020-21 season. Andres Hernandez Betancur returns after starting all 14 of UCF's matches and recorded 1213 minutes. Senior Gideon Adu-Peprah is coming back after playing in four matches off the bench last season.
Caleb Franke and Beto Ydrach also return as players that can function as defenders or midfielders. Both were key elements to the team's success during the previous campaign.
Newcomer Ryan Jani joins the team after scoring 17 goals and racking up 28 assists in his three high school seasons. He looks to add to an already formidable defense for the Knights.
UP NEXT
UCF will begin their regular season campaign in less than as a week as they're set to host FIU on Aug. 26 at 6 p.m. at the UCF Soccer Complex.
SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets and individual game tickets for the 2021 men's soccer season are available now. To catch every moment on the pitch this year, click here.
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