Men's Soccer 2024 Season in Review

ORLANDO – The UCF men’s soccer team concluded its second season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2024, recording its second top three regular-season conference finish in as many seasons.

The Knights, who produced a seven-plus-win season for the second straight year in their new league, once again climbed into the United Soccer Coaches national top 10 after the program made history in 2023 with the first No. 1 national ranking in a regular-season poll by any in school history.

The squad saw 13 different players score at least one goal, led by Lucca Dourado’s six, as well as two different goalkeepers lock the net down on the other end of the pitch.

UCF finished third in the regular-season Sun Belt table with 15 points, breaking a tie with Kentucky and South Carolina by virtue of its wins over the two schools Oct. 23 and Nov. 1, respectively. The program’s third-place finish marked its second in the conference’s top three after it earned the No. 2 seed in the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Championship with 19 points.

SETTING NEW STANDARDS

Fifth year defender Anderson Rosa cemented his status as one of the program’s greats, breaking the UCF all-time career games played record with his 75th appearance of his career, which came in the Knight’s regular-season finale at Coastal Carolina Nov. 5.

Rosa, who last season became the 13th in program history to be chosen in the MLS SuperDraft, completed his collegiate career with 76 consecutive games played, eight goals, 14 assists, 87 shot attempts and 28 shots on goal. His six assists, 32 shot attempts and 11 shots on goal in 2024 all marked single-season career bests.

Fifth year forward Lucca Dourado made history of his own throughout the fall as well, affirming his place among the program’s most prolific goal-scorers.

With his six scores in 2024, Dourado concludes his UCF tenure with 43 spanning his collegiate career, good for fifth most on the UCF all-time list. His 92 points rank sixth on the UCF all-time list as well.

The forward’s season was highlighted by his home finale against South Carolina Nov. 1, a contest that saw him net the first hat trick of his collegiate career and the 41st in program history, to become the fifth Knight to eclipse the 40 career goals scored mark.

Every goal from @Luccadourado9’s Senior Knight hat trick 🎩

Plus a bonus goal from @arosa_3! pic.twitter.com/gy8M7yEJeh

— UCF Knights 🌴 (@UCFKnights) November 2, 2024

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS

Two of the team’s leaders throughout not just the 2024 season, but their respective five years in Orlando, Rosa and Dourado both garnered Sun Belt First Team All-Conference honors in their last campaign with the Knights.

The recognition represents the fourth straight season that has seen Dourado tabbed to an All-Conference First Team, after he earned the honor following UCF’s debut campaign in the Sun Belt last fall. He also earned said selections in both of the Knights’ previous two seasons as a member of the American Athletic Conference.

The São Paulo, Brazil, native scored a team-best six goals in 2024, highlighted by his first career hat trick in his home finale against South Carolina Nov. 1, on 21 shot attempts and 11 shots on goal. He also recorded his second consecutive season with three game-winning goals, pushing his career total to 15.

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 in all five of his collegiate 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.

WEEKLY WINNERS

Dourado, in addition to earning Sun Belt All-Conference First Team honors, was joined by fifth year defender Jonas Fritschi in garnering the league’s weekly award during the season.

The duo swept the conference’s weekly honors following the team’s 4-0 win over South Carolina Nov. 1, with the former earning Offensive Player of the Week and the latter Defensive Player of the 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 in the match against the Gamecocks, 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.

Fritschi 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).

A SEASON OF FIRSTS

Of the 13 players who found the back of the net for the team in 2024, eight scored either their first collegiate goal or their first goal as a Knight. Redshirt freshman Drew Hansen paced UCF in that regard, scoring his first three collegiate goals while also earning his first career brace against Kentucky Oct. 23.

Freshman Carlos Rojas also scored the first two goals of his college tenure, joining Hansen in notching his first career brace against UC Irvine Sept. 6. He and Hansen became the first pair of UCF teammates to both record a brace in their respective first seasons playing with UCF since at least 2011 (as far back as NCAA data is available).

Senior Javier López Sánchez netted his first collegiate score in UCF’s 2024 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship quarterfinal tilt with sixth-seeded James Madison Nov. 10, and was joined by Joey Mueller, Mouhamed Pouye, Alex Smith, Jonas Fritschi and Sora Funakoshi in scoring either their first collegiate goals or their first as Knights.

First career game? Carlos Rojas knocked home his first TWO career goals! 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/fcwZSFeYxE

— UCF Men's Soccer (@UCF_MSoccer) September 7, 2024

STRONG TANDEM BETWEEN THE GOALPOSTS

The Knights saw incumbent starting goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz joined by redshirt freshman Shane Wright in goal this fall, with the duo giving their squad a steady presence between the posts throughout the season.

Muñoz, despite seeing his season shortened to just nine games due to an early-season injury, continued his upward trajectory in his third year donning the Black and Gold. The Valencia, Spain, native recorded a season-best 1.11 goals-against average, lowering his career average to a 1.24 mark that ranks eighth-lowest on the UCF all-time career list.

He also notched multiple clean sheets for the third straight season to begin his career, and allowed two or fewer goals in each of his nine appearances, one or fewer in six games, and a pair of clean sheets.

Wright stepped in for the injured Muñoz beginning with UCF’s third match of the season and showed immediate poise between the posts. In his first season of Division I action, he posted a 1.57 goals-against average while making 24 saves and recording one shutout. He also made a season-high eight saves in UCF’s tilt at FIU Sept. 11, one of three games that saw the Orlando native make at least four saves.

Muñoz and Wright combined to allow two or fewer goals in 15 of UCF’s 16 total matches throughout the fall, leading to a 1.31 goals-against average that ranked fifth-best in the Sun Belt Conference.

LENDING A HAND

2023 Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year Clarence Awoudor registered his seventh assist of the season in UCF's 2-1 win at Coastal Carolina Nov. 5, aiding on fifth year forward Lucca Dourado's game-winning goal.

Awoudor's seven assists represented a single-season career best, as well as the top mark on the team. He also extended his team-leading point total to 13, and he completed his junior season second in the Sun Belt in assists per game (0.44, 37th nationally) and total assists (7, 52nd nationally).

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