ORLANDO – Both key contributors throughout their respective final seasons in Orlando, the work fifth years Lucca Dourado and Anderson Rosa have put in to aiding the UCF men’s soccer team to its third-place regular-season Sun Belt finish have not gone unnoticed.
As announced by the conference Friday afternoon, the two Knights veterans have both been tabbed to the Sun Belt’s All-Conference First Team for their efforts.
The post-season honor represents the fourth straight season that has seen Dourado tabbed to an All-Conference First Team, after he earned the recognition following UCF’s debut campaign in the Sun Belt last fall as well as in both of the Knights’ previous two seasons as a member of the American Athletic Conference.
Although he missed six matches between the end of non-conference play and the beginning of league play due to injury this year, Dourado still managed to complete the regular season as the Knights’ leading goal-scorer. His six goals not only paced the team, but also ranked eighth most in the Sun Belt overall, and his 12 points finished second on the squad to Clarence Awoudor’s 13.
Dourado gained most of his offensive traction down the stretch when his team needed it the most, scoring four goals in the team’s last two matches, including his first career hat trick against South Carolina Nov. 1 and an 89th-minute game-winner against Coastal Carolina Nov. 5.
He recorded a trio of game-winning scores this season, marking the third of his five seasons with at least three such goals and his second straight, and his three game-winners were good for a share of third-most in the conference, behind only Kentucky’s Logan Dorsey (4) and South Carolina’s Harrison Myring (4).
With 43 goals entering postseason play, Dourado ranks fifth on the UCF all-time career goals scored list, three shy of tying Cal Jennings’ (2016-19) career total of 46 for fourth most in program history, and he now sits eight points shy of becoming the sixth Knight in program history to eclipse the 100-point plateau.
Rosa, meanwhile, earned First Team honors for the first time within the Sun Belt after he garnered Second Team All-Conference recognition last season. He has also now earned an appointment to an All-Conference list for the fifth time in his five seasons, having been tabbed to the American’s All-Conference First Team in the 2020-21 (pushed to the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2022 seasons, and Second Team in the fall 2021 slate.
The defender has upheld his reputation for durability and dependability on the Knights’ back line this season, setting a new program record with his 75th consecutive match played at Coastal Carolina Nov. 5. He has played in all 1,350 minutes of UCF’s 15 regular-season contests and has produced season highs in assists (6), shot attempts (30) and shots on goal (10), while also scoring two goals to produce consecutive multi-goal seasons for the first time in his collegiate career.
His first goal of the season against Georgia State Sept. 29 marked his second career game-winning goal, and he also added his second score on Senior Knight against South Carolina Nov. 1. Rosa has also assisted five of his teammates in scoring either their first goal as a Knight or the first goal of their respective collegiate careers: Joey Mueller, Drew Hansen, Carlos Rojas, Alex Smith and Mouhamed Pouye.
Defensively, Rosa has played an integral role in helping the Black and Gold limit their opposition to two or fewer goals in 14 of their 15 matches, one or fewer goals in 10 matches, and three clean sheets.
UCF most notably blanked a Gamecocks offense Nov. 1 that entered the evening ranking among Sun Belt and national leaders in goals per game (2.36, 1st Sun Belt, 7th nationally), points per game (6.71, 1st Sun Belt, 12th nationally), total goals (33, 1st Sun Belt, 14th nationally), total points (94, 1st Sun Belt, 19th nationally), and shots on goal per game (6.43, 1st Sun Belt, 20th nationally).
UP NEXT
Third-seeded UCF is set for its 2024 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship first-round tilt against the sixth-seeded James Madison Dukes in Huntington, West Virginia, Sunday Nov. 10. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and will be streamed on ESPN+.
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