ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF men's soccer team has three Knights in the American Athletic's Preseason All-Conference Team. As a team, the Black and Gold were picked to finish second in The American's preseason coaches poll.
Lucca Dourado was unanimously named to the Preseason Team, one of just four student-athletes named by all 10 coaches in the league. Anderson Rosa and Gino Vivi also made their way onto the Preseason Team. The three members of the Black and Gold are tied for the second-most on the list along with FIU; both programs sit just behind Tulsa who has four names listed on the squad.
The nod is Dourado's first to a Preseason All-Conference Team, while Vivi picks up his third preseason honor and Rosa earning his second. Dourado and Vivi were named to the United Soccer Coaches All-East Region Second Team to finish out the 2021 season. All three found themselves on a postseason conference team last year, with Dourado landing on the First Team and Vivi and Rosa making the Second Team.
Dourado, Vivi and Rosa combined for 21 of UCF's 43 goals last season along with 54 of the 122 total points.
The Knights were picked to finish second in The American's preseason coaches poll, listed only behind Tulsa, who received nine of ten possible first place votes. Tulsa sits in first place in the poll with 81 points, followed by UCF with 66 and FIU and Charlotte tied for third with 60 total voting points. FIU was the only other team to receive a first place vote. FIU and Charlotte are two of the four newcomers in The American this year. The other two, FAU and UAB, are picked to finish eighth and tenth respectively.
The last time UCF was picked to finish second in the conference was during the 2020-21 season that was played in the spring of 2021. The Knights went on to win their first tournament title as part of The American and three-peated as regular season conference champions.
Preseason Coaches Poll
| 1. | Tulsa (9) | 81 |
| 2. | UCF | 66 |
| 3. | Charlotte | 60 |
| FIU (1) | 60 | |
| 5. | SMU | 58 |
| 6. | South Florida | 36 |
| 7. | Memphis | 31 |
| 8. | Florida Atlantic | 27 |
| 9. | Temple | 14 |
| 10. | UAB | 14 |
Offensive Player of the Year
Alex Meinhard, Jr., F, Tulsa
Defensive Player of the Year
Mariano Fazio, Sr., D, Tulsa
Goalkeeper of the Year
Alex Lopez, So., Tulsa*
Preseason All-Conference Team
Lucca Dourado, Jr., F, UCF*
Anderson Rosa, Jr., D, UCF
Gino Vivi, Sr., F, UCF
Tom Abrahamsson, Sr., D, Florida Atlantic
Stephen Afrifa, Jr., F, FIU
Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro, So., F, FIU
Matteo Gasperoni, Gr., M, FIU
Sal Mazzaferro, Jr., D, South Florida
Shion Soga, So., M, South Florida
Knut Ahlander, Gr., M, SMU
Mariano Fazio, Sr., D, Tulsa*
Alex Lopez, So., GK, Tulsa*
Alex Meinhard, Jr., F, Tulsa*
Henry Sach, Sr., M, Tulsa
* denotes unanimous selection
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