Men's Soccer Topples UTRGV, 4-0, in 2025 Home-Opener

ORLANDO – With the team playing its third match in a seven-day span, head coach Scott Calabrese leaned on his group’s improved depth.

“It’s a really good response, we learned a lot from this last weekend and had a good performance at home with a lot of players involved,” he said. “It was really good to see that we’re able to go to multiple players and different positions to come on, contribute and make an impact.”

On the strength of 17 shot attempts and 20 different Knights making an appearance, the UCF men’s soccer team righted the ship with a dominant 4-0 victory over the visiting UTRGV Vaqueros at the UCF Soccer Complex Wednesday evening.

They did it with a prolific four-goal first half, the highest-scoring period for the program since the Black and Gold cruised to a 5-1 victory over UC Irvine with a four-goal second frame Sept. 6, 2024. The quartet of Malick Thiaw, Claudel N’goubou, Lilian Ricol and Seiryu Ono each found the back of the net, with Thiaw, N’goubou and Ono each notching their first scores since joining the program.

UCF’s offensive efforts began on their own defensive end of the pitch Wednesday, when senior goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz booted a long cross-field pass from just outside the Knights’ six yard box.

Thiaw, battling a Vaqueros defender on the other end, chipped the ball over a crashing UTRGV goalkeeper before adding a soft second touch to break the ice in the 14th minute of action.

The score not only marked his first as a Knight, but also his fourth career score after he netted three in his first NCAA Division I season with Virginia Tech in 2024 and his first career game-winning goal. Muñoz recorded the first assist of his collegiate career on the play as well.

Just over 13 minutes later, N’goubou cashed in on a slick heel redirect off a pass from Sora Funakoshi, doubling UCF’s lead and giving the former Division II All-American the first tally of his Division I career in the 27th minute.

Taking into account his two seasons with Limestone, N’goubou recorded the 19th goal of his three-year NCAA tenure, and also notched his third consecutive game with three shot attempts. Funakoshi earned his first Division I assist as well.

Firing on all cylinders, the Knights saw Ricol net his second UCF goal just under five minutes later, aided by senior midfielder Clarence Awoudor’s first assist of the year.

The Saint-Lo, France, native maintained command of the ball through a pair of Vaqueros defenders before giving way for Ricol, who beat the UTRGV netminder with a quick right-footed strike in the 32nd minute.

Awoudor’s second assist of the match aided freshman newcomer Seiryu Ono in scoring his first career goal just over three minutes after Ricol’s tally, as he and senior Frederic Benedix executed a give-and-go style play before Ono’s one-touch shot found the back of the net.

Awoudor, after ranking second in the Sun Belt with seven total assists a season ago, recorded his fourth career multi-assist showing in the winning effort, while UCF’s five assists marked the team’s highest single-game total since the team recorded five in a 3-2 road win at Georgia State Oct. 27, 2023.

“It feels really good,” sophomore defender Gwen Degorce said of the win. “The team played really well, we all had a good game, we had a lot of pleasure playing together. We learned a lot from our road trip and we were able to apply some things tonight. It gave us a good result.”

Muñoz, meanwhile had to wait until the 77th minute to make his lone save of the contest, redirecting a Vaqueros shot high and off the crossbar to keep the clean sheet intact.

The goalkeeper was credited with his first shutout of the season and eighth of his career in the winning effort, moving into a tie for 10th on the program’s all-time shutouts list with Tuomas Tuomilehto.

Muñoz also saw his career goals-against average drop to 1.28 through his first 40 matches, good for a share of eighth on UCF’s respective all-time list with Ryan McIntosh.

UP NEXT
The Knights get another chance at a result against a ranked opponent Sunday, Aug. 31, when UCF will welcome No. 23 UNC Greensboro to Orlando. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from the UCF Soccer Complex and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

TICKETS
UCF men’s soccer season and single-game tickets are on sale now. Please visit ucfknights.com/tickets for more information or call the ticket office at (407) 823-1000.

ABOUT UCF ATHLETICS
UCF is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference. Our mission is to positively transform the lives of our students academically, athletically, and personally through a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the reputation and visibility of the University. We strive to be Florida's preeminent athletic program representing UCF and our community with distinction on the national stage as "Orlando's Hometown Team". To learn more about UCF and Athletics, please visit our websites at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.