CONWAY, S.C. – In accompaniment with the UCF men’s soccer team’s convincing 4-0 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks Friday evening, a pair of Knights have been recognized for their efforts throughout the match.
As announced by the Sun Belt Conference Tuesday afternoon, fifth year forward Lucca Dourado and fifth year defender Jonas Fritschi have been named Sun Belt Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively.
The weekly honors represent the first two of the season for UCF, as well as the first time since the Knights joined the Sun Belt prior to the 2023-24 campaign that the Black and Gold have swept both weekly honors in the same week.
Dourado and Fritschi also become the fourth and fifth Knights to garner Sun Belt weekly honors over the past two seasons, joining the recognition on the defensive end earned by goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz, midfielder Robbie Soronellas and defender Zane Bubb a season ago.
Dourado spearheaded the Black and Gold’s offensive efforts, scoring three of UCF’s four goals en route to netting the first hat trick of his career and his first collegiate six-point match.
In doing so, Dourado became the fifth player in program history to eclipse the 40 career goals scored plateau and pushed his career point total to 90, good for sixth most in program history behind Heikki Ritvanen (188, 1996-99), Randy DeShield (126, 1976-79), Ari Nurmi (122, 1996-99), Cal Jennings (107, 2016-19) and Rony Francois (101, 1980-83).
He notched the first hat trick by a Knight since Alessandro Campoy’s display against FGCU Sept. 21, 2021, as well as the 41st hat trick in program history.
Fritschi, meanwhile, played a key role in quieting a potent Gamecocks offense on the other end, playing 87 minutes and helping limit South Carolina to just seven total shot attempts, including two on goal.
The Gamecocks entered the evening leading the Sun Belt in goals per game (2.36, 7th NCAA), points per game (6.71, 12th NCAA), total goals (33, 14th NCAA), total points (94, 19th NCAA) and shots on goal per game (6.43, 20th NCAA).
The honor is the first of Fritschi’s collegiate career, while Dourado earns a conference weekly award for the third time in his career after earning American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week both in 2021 and 2022.
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