ORLANDO – Bolstered by a healthy mix of returners and new faces in the forward and midfielder positions, the UCF men’s soccer team’s attacking scheme is looking for an immediate impact in the Sun Belt as its Aug. 24 season-opener at No. 9 Clemson draws nearer. Nine returning Knights will be joined by eight newcomers as UCF looks to return to the top 50 scoring teams in the nation for the sixth time in head coach Scott Calabrese's seven seasons.
FORWARDS
Senior Lucca Dourado returns for his fourth season in Orlando representing one of the most prolific scorers in the nation. Already named to the Sun Belt Preseason All-Conference Team and the United Soccer Coaches Forward to Watch list entering the new season, Dourado brings with him 28 career goals and three assists on the heels of an 11-goal 2022 campaign. His 11 goals ranked second-most in the AAC and 12th in the nation last year, and he slotted second in The American and seventh nationally with his 1.69 points per game as well.
For his efforts, the São Paulo, Brazil, native was a selection to the 2022 All-East Region Second Team in addition to his selection to the American Athletic Conference’s All-Conference First Team. Dourado was also twice ranked within the top 100 players in the nation by TopDrawer Soccer during the season, at No. 83 at the midway point and No. 89 upon the conclusion of the year.
Joining Dourado as members of the Knights’ returning offense are sophomores Emmanuel Bam and Junior Trucillo, and redshirt freshman Joey Mueller. Bam appeared in 11 matches during his first season with UCF last year, notching a pair of assists and four shots on goal on five total shot attempts. The Accra, Ghana, native registered a pair of shots on goal against FAU Oct. 1, marking a single-game season-high.
Trucillo appeared in five games off the bench a year ago, totaling 26 minutes after making his collegiate debut at Temple Sept. 17. Mueller, meanwhile, has yet to make his Knights debut after taking a redshirt during the fall 2022 season. The St. John’s County, Florida, native scored 29 goals and added 13 assists during his senior year of high school at Creekside High prior to joining UCF, garnering team MVP and All-Conference Team honors for his contributions.
The Knights also bring three newcoming forwards into the fold for the upcoming fall slate in sophomore transfer Clarence Awoudor and freshmen Malang Mandiang and Mouhamed Pouye. Awoudor comes to the Knights from the Pacific Northwest, switching from Oregon State to UCF on the heels of an impressive collegiate debut season. The Saint-Lo, France, native was All-Pac-12 Conference First Team and College Soccer news All-Freshman Third Team selections after tallying three goals and two assists in 13 matches. He made his college debut at UC Santa Barbara Sept. 9 and played in 13 of the Beavers’ final 14 games.
Awoudor scored his first career goal in a 2-2 draw against Stanford Oct. 9 and also found the back of the net in his next game against Portland Oct. 14. His third goal came in the Beavers’ road tilt at the Cardinal Oct. 27, and he recorded a single-game season-high two shots on goal during his first matchup against Stanford as well.
Pouye and Mandiang both represent products of the Montverde Academy under head coach Kevin Varnado. The pair won back-to-back MAST championships in 2022 and 2023, while Pouye was also a member of the Galaxy Football Academy in Senegal and the Senegal U-17 Beach Soccer National Team.
MIDFIELDERS
Among the returning Knights midfielders, redshirt senior Beto Ydrach and fifth years Robbie Soronellas and AJ Seals bring the highest degree of collegiate experience back to Orlando. Ydrach notched 722 minutes in nine games last season, including seeing at least 85 minutes in each of his final six matches. The Orlando native notched a pair of shot attempts in his nine games, and was also selected to the 2022 CSC Academic All-District Team.
Soronellas, returning for his third season donning the Black and Gold, started five of the 10 matches in which he appeared last year. During the Knights’ 4-0 victory at Temple Sept. 17, he broke the ice with UCF’s first goal of the match in the 13th minute, marking his first collegiate goal and one of his five total shot attempts last season. The Lutz, Florida, native also committed just four fouls, marking a season-low of any of his first four collegiate campaigns.
Seals, a transfer from NC State, started each of the Knights’ 13 matches in his first season in Orlando last year, and with his 1,086 minutes he became one of four Knights to eclipse the 1,000-minute mark. With assists during UCF’s Sept. 9 match at UC Irvine and Sept. 24 at Memphis, he also registered his second consecutive season with multiple assists and points, and his two shots on goal marked a season-high.
Hough started in six of the 11 matches in which he appeared with the Knights last season, accruing 531 minutes of time on the pitch. His first collegiate start against UC Riverside Sept. 5, and tallied his first career assist and point four days later against UC Irvine, helping lift UCF to a 3-2 win.
Ba, a junior this season, appeared in a season-high three matches in his first year with UCF following his transfer from Oregon State a year ago, where he appeared in three matches between his first two seasons in Corvallis. Prior to his time in Orlando, Ba had been named to the Fall Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll in 2021 with the Beavers.
The Knights round out their midfielder group with five freshman newcomers: Fabio Guerreiro, Saku Heiskanen, Yanis Belatrache, Drew Hansen and Itai Levisman. Guerreiro, a native of Faro, Portugal, graduated from Escola Secundaria Jose Falco in 2020 and won a championship as a member of Academica OAF. Heiskanen, a native of Espoo, Finland, also brings prior international experience to Orlando. The freshman competed with Finland’s national team between the U-15 and U-20 levels and also played for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s academy, within the top tier of German soccer, for a year and a half.
Belatrache, from Herblay sur Seine, France, played in the fourth tier of French soccer with FC Metz II from 2022-23, including one start in his four total appearances. Levisman, from Raanana, Israel, earned experience playing with Hapoel Raanana, a team in the third division of Israeli soccer, and graduated from Aviv High School in 2018.
Hansen was a two-time high school state champion with Christ the King Catholic High School in his home state of Cleveland, North Carolina. He was a First Team All-State and Regional Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons as a junior and senior, and also won State Finals MVP Mid-Atlantic All-Region Team and Carolina Soccer Honors High School Player of the Year honors during his high school tenure as well.