ORLANDO – As the No. 19 UCF men’s soccer team readies for its second season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference this fall, the squad will lean on a robust level of returning experience within its defensive corps complemented by a handful of new faces.
The Black and Gold bring 13 players who are rostered as either defenders or goalkeepers into the new campaign, including five newcomers and eight returning Knights from a season ago.
UCF in 2023 authored a strong defensive campaign en route to its second-place finish in the Sun Belt table, limiting its opposition to two or fewer goals in each of its first 15 matches of the season, paving way for a final team goals-against average of just 1.233. The Knights recorded four clean sheets, as well as an additional five matches with just one goal surrendered that aided in the squad recording a +13 goal differential, good for a share of 35th-best in the nation.
GOALKEEPERS
Not unlike last year, head coach Scott Calabrese will once again bring a relatively young, in terms of collegiate experience, group of goalkeepers into the new season. Junior Juanvi Muñoz is the lone Knight netminder with prior Division I experience and will enter his third season donning the Black and Gold.
For your halftime viewing pleasure, three HUGE saves from Juanvi to keep the match tied! 😱 pic.twitter.com/VxMbAbDOEM
— UCF Men's Soccer (@UCF_MSoccer) September 16, 2023
The Valencia, Spain, native enjoyed a career season throughout his 2023 sophomore slate, producing single-season bests in appearances (15), starts (15), minutes played (1349:29), goals allowed (17), goals-against average (1.134), save percentage (.734), wins (9) and shutouts (3) as an encore to his strong 2022 debut.
Muñoz became the second Knight to earn Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week honors last season after he notched a clean sheet against the Kentucky Wildcats Sept. 29, making a trio of saves. The effort factored into the then-sophomore yielding two or fewer goals in 14 of his 15 starts, and one or fewer goals in 10 of those 15 overall.
With aid from his defensive front, Muñoz also helped run UCF’s scoreless goals-against streak to 314 minutes and 45 seconds between UCF’s 1-0 defeat at then-No. 1 Marshall Sept. 23 and its 2-1 win at Old Dominion Oct. 14.
Joining Muñoz between the goalposts are returning redshirt-freshmen Shane Wright and Pablo Ossabal, as well as incoming freshman netminder Timo Haböck. Wright and Ossabal both spent the 2023 campaign in Orlando and redshirted after neither saw match action, while Haböck joins UCF from Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany and was a member of the highest possible league with FSV Frankfurt, U17 Bundesliga.
DEFENDERS
Calabrese and his staff bring nine defenders into the 2024 campaign to play in front of the squad’s goalkeeping tandem, featuring five returning faces and four newcomers.
Fifth year seniors Anderson Rosa and Jonas Fritschi lead the squad in returning experience, followed by junior Timothy Arias and sophomores Ron Ben Dakon and Arne Michaelis. Joining UCF for the first time are fifth year Alex Smith, junior Daisuke Shinko, sophomore Gabi Velez and freshman Gwendal Degorce.
Rosa represents a key leadership figure in entering his fifth season as a Knight, as he brings with him a streak of 60 consecutive appearances and starts dating back to his freshman debut Feb. 6, 2021.
A second-round pick by the Colorado Rapids in the MLS SuperDraft 2024 last December, Rosa also garnered selections to the United Soccer Coaches’ All-Southeast Region Second Team, Sun Belt’s All-Conference Second Team, and Sun Belt’s All-Conference Preseason Team in 2023. He started each of UCF’s 16 matches, setting single-season career bests in goals scored (3), points (7) and shot attempts (18), and tied his previous season high with five shots on goal.