ORLANDO – The top-ranked UCF men’s soccer team enjoyed a dominant fall 2023 regular-season campaign, one that saw the program enter its season-opener unranked and finish as the unanimous No. 1 squad in the nation.
The other nine Sun Belt schools noticed, and the Knights have been duly recognized for their efforts in their first post-season conference awards as members of the Sun Belt, highlighted by three major honors and five first and second team selections.
In his seventh season at the helm of the Knights, head coach Scott Calabrese was voted Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, freshman midfielder Saku Heiskanen was tabbed Freshman of the Year, and sophomore transfer Clarence Awoudor garnered Newcomer of the Year honors.
UCF also boasts a pair of All-Conference First Team selections in senior forward Lucca Dourado and senior defender Zane Bubb, and the trio of Heiskanen, senior midfielder AJ Seals and senior defender Anderson Rosa were all added to the Sun Belt’s All-Conference Second Team.
COACH OF THE YEAR – SCOTT CALABRESE
After his 2022 squad went 6-7-0 and missed postseason play entirely, Calabrese oversaw a dramatic turnaround in his team throughout the 2023 slate. The Knights this fall won each of their first three matches, including a season-opening 2-1 comeback win on the road at then-No. 9 Clemson, and went unbeaten through their first six contests en route to a second-place finish in the Sun Belt regular season table, the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, and a 10-2-2 record entering postseason play.
The Knights, who represent the third-ranked team in RPI entering the postseason after finishing the 2022 season at No. 71, made significant strides forward in many statistical categories throughout the fall campaign.
Under Calabrese’s leadership, UCF improved upon its 2022 marks in assists per game (1.71 in 2023, 1.62 in 2022), goal differential (+15, +4), points per game (6.00, 5.15), save percentage (.741, .725), goals per game (2.14, 1.77), shot attempts per game (13.14, 12.31), team goals-against average (1.071, 1.462), total goals (30, 23) and total points (84, 67).
The Knights’ seventh-year head coach also recorded the 150th win of his career with UCF’s 1-0 road win against the Kentucky Wildcats Sept. 29, and he cultivated the growth of Heiskanen and Awoudor in their respective paths to winning conference Freshman and Newcomer of the Year.
The honor also represents the third individual conference coach of the year award won by Calabrese, after he garnered the award in 2010 with East Tennessee State in the ASUN, and in 2015 with FIU in Conference-USA. Calabrese and his staff were also twice honored with Coaching Staff of the Year honors in the American Athletic Conference in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019.
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – SAKU HEISKANEN
Heiskanen proved himself a crucial component of the Knights’ 2023 roster from his first collegiate match and on, scoring a game-tying goal, the first of his career, in the 43rd minute of UCF’s season-opening comeback win at then-No. 9 Clemson Aug. 24. He later recorded his first career assist on Emmanuel Bam’s go-ahead goal that lifted UCF to its one-goal win against the Tigers.
Heiskanen, in appearing in each of the Knights’ 14 regular-season matches, completed his debut season with four goals and two assists, good for his first collegiate season with double-digit points. The Espoo, Finland, native also added goals in UCF’s 3-1 win over NC State Sept. 1, the Knights’ 5-0 rout of Coastal Carolina Oct. 18, and he scored the match’s lone goal in UCF’s 1-0 road win at Kentucky Sept. 29, also representing his first collegiate game-winning goal. Heiskanen recorded at least one shot attempt in each of his first nine matches this season, as well, and added three contests with multiple shots on goal.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – CLARENCE AWOUDOR
Awoudor represented a key factor in UCF’s offensive attack throughout the fall campaign, becoming one of the Knights’ seven multi-goal scorers with three goals, as well as three assists, on 18 total shot attempts.
His three-goal season represented the second straight such campaign to begin his collegiate career after spending his freshman year with the Oregon State Beavers, and Awoudor in 2023 set new single-season career-bests in points (9), assists (3), shots on goal (11) and game-winning goals (2).
He tallied his first game-winner in a Knights uniform in UCF’s home-opener against Stetson Aug. 27, and his score against Coastal Carolina Oct. 18 proved to be the deciding goal in the Knights’ 5-0 win over the Chanticleers. Awoudor added his second collegiate multi-assist evening in UCF’s 3-2 win at Georgia State Oct. 27, as well.
The post-season award represents the second in Awoudor’s two-year career, as the sophomore was tabbed to the Pac-12’s All-Conference First Team following his freshman season with the Beavers in 2022.
FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE – LUCCA DOURADO AND ZANE BUBB
For the third consecutive season, Dourado finds himself a First Team All-Conference selection after earning the honor in both of the last two seasons in the American Athletic Conference.
The senior started each of the Knights’ 14 matches and recorded his third straight 20-plus-point campaign, scoring nine goals and adding a pair of assists while registering a season-high 46 total shot attempts, 19 of which were on goal. He also converted both of his two penalty kick attempts and recorded his third collegiate season in his first four with multiple game-winning goals.
Dourado tallied back-to-back two-goal matches for the third time in his four-year career against Georgia Southern and at Old Dominion Oct. 7-14, also recording the game-winner in both contests, and became the seventh player in program history to eclipse 30 career goals. He also now sits in seventh place on the UCF all-time career points list with 79 entering play in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
The São Paulo, Brazil, native ranked among conference and national leaders in a handful of statistical categories as well, including shot attempts per game (3.29, 2nd SBC, 23rd NCAA), goals per game (0.64, 2nd SBC, 28th NCAA), total goals (9, 2nd SBC, 32nd NCAA), points per game (1.43, 3rd SBC), total points (20, 4th SBC), and shots on goal per game (1.36, 4th SBC).
Bubb, meanwhile, made history as the Knights’ first conference weekly award winner in the Sun Belt, taking home conference Defensive Player of the Week honors Sept. 5 for his efforts in helping the team limit the NC State Wolfpack to one goal on just seven total shot attempts Sept. 1. The defender played 82 minutes and completed 67 of 74 total passes (91 percent) on the evening.
Bubb was a regular on the Knights’ backline throughout the fall season, starting in 13 of his 14 total appearances and accruing 1,187 minutes played. With Bubb’s help, the Knights limited their opposition to two or fewer goals in each of their 14 contests, including one or fewer goals on nine different occasions.
The defender recorded a 90 percent passing completion rate throughout the 2023 season and added his second career multi-goal season with scores against then-No. 4 West Virginia Sept. 15 and Georgia State Oct. 27. His tally against the Panthers in the regular season’s penultimate game also represented the first game-winning goal of his six-year playing career.
SECOND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE – SAKU HEISKANEN, AJ SEALS AND ANDERSON ROSA
In addition to bringing home the conference’s Freshman of the Year award, Heiskanen joined teammates AJ Seals and Anderson Rosa on the Sun Belt’s Second Team All-Conference as well.
Seals, following his second season with the Knights, receives a post-season honor for the first time in his five-year collegiate career. The fifth-year midfielder started each of the Knights’ 14 matches, totaling 1,247 minutes, topped only by Rosa’s 1,258.
In his second season in Orlando, Seals set single-season career-bests in assists (4), points (6) and shots on goal (3), while scoring the first goal of his collegiate career at Georgia State Oct. 27. He recorded a pass completion rate of 84 percent throughout the fall campaign as well, accompanied by an aerial duel win rate of 55 percent.
Rosa paced the team in total minutes with 1,258, starting each of the squad’s 14 matches and running his consecutive starts streak to 58 straight contests entering conference tournament play.
In his 14 games, Rosa set single-season career-bests in goals scored (2), penalty kick goals (1) and game-winning goals (1). He converted his first collegiate penalty kick in the Knights’ 2-0 win over Brown Sept. 9, and later scored his first career game-winner in UCF’s 3-2 victory at South Carolina Oct. 22.
The defender once again took up his mantle as one of the Knights’ most relied-upon players in their defensive end as well, helping the team limit its opposition to two or fewer goals in each of its 14 matches and posting a 52 percent duel win rate throughout the fall.
COMPLETE LIST OF SUN BELT CONFERENCE REGULAR SEASON AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR | OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Matthew Bell, Marshall
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Morris Duggan, Marshall
GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR
Gabriel Perrotta, Marshall
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Saku Heiskanen, UCF
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Clarence Awoudor, UCF
COACH OF THE YEAR
Scott Calabrese, UCF
FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
F – Matthew Bell, Marshall
F – Marcus Caldeira, West Virginia
F – Lucca Dourado, UCF
F – Yutaro Tsukada, West Virginia
M – Ethan Dekel Daks, South Carolina
M – Clay Obara, James Madison
M – Simon Carlson, Georgia State
D – Zane Bubb, UCF
D – Morris Duggan, Marshall
D – Luca Nikolai, James Madison
GK – Gabriel Perrotta, Marshall
SECOND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
F – Saku Heiskanen, UCF
F – Adam Luckhurst, South Carolina
F – Rodrigo Robles, James Madison
M – Taimu Okiyoshi, Marshall
M – AJ Seals, UCF
M – Kevin Larsson, James Madison
M – Luke McCormick, West Virginia
D – Anderson Rosa, UCF
D – Frederik Jorgensen, West Virginia
D – Max Miller, Kentucky
GK – Jackson Lee, West Virginia
UP NEXT
The second-seeded Knights will commence play in the opening round of the 2023 Men’s Soccer Sun Belt Conference Championship, taking on the seventh-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks in the quarterfinals Sunday evening. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. from the UCF Soccer Complex in Orlando.