Hardworking, dedicated, passionate, and honest.
For 2025 Knights captain and fifth-year midfielder Maria Tregansin, these are more than just words. They represent her values she's gained through her journey both on and off the soccer pitch.
Leading the Charge – No Matter What
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“I feel like my roles, like who I am and how I carry myself, didn't really change from last year to this year. All that's changed to me is the labels. Yeah, I'm the lone captain, but the success of this team and the culture that we’ve fostered is really also down to the unlabeled leaders on the team.”
Maria Tregansin“He fostered my love for the game just by being him, but more than that, I think he fostered a competitiveness within me that I feel like you wouldn't get if you didn't have an older sibling. So, he was my partner in everything, even on days when we wouldn't have training, or in the summer. Every day we would just play soccer and literally just juggle.”
Maria Tregansin
Tregansin followed her brother to Montverde Academy, and only then did she begin to think about the college aspect of the United States’ professional soccer pathway.
Montverde would pave the way for both Tregansin and her brother to play college soccer, although she had yet to consider playing for her hometown team.
After Montverde, Daniel would go on to play college soccer as a central holding midfielder at Division II school Notre Dame College before transferring to Division I program Cleveland State for his final two years of eligibility.
Tregansin played all four years of high school soccer at Montverde, winning back-to-back Class 4A Girls Soccer State Championships in her freshman and sophomore seasons.
The Academy’s showcases, which would display its talent for coaches from prestigious programs all around the county, led her to UCF assistant coach Chris Cummings, who spoke to her in her sophomore year.
Additionally, she played on a summer league team during her freshman and sophomore years of high school, where she met now-UCF women’s soccer alumni Darya Rajaee and Madison Murnin, who really pushed her to commit to UCF.
“I met them and I was like, wow, these are great people. Not only are they excellent footballers and play the kind of football (soccer) I want to play, but they were also great people, and they spoke so highly of UCF. So to me, it was kind of a no-brainer coming here.”
Maria Tregansin
Meeting UCF head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak was the icing on the cake for Tregansin, who she said was a breath of fresh air, exceeding all of her expectations.
“She’s so empowering,” Tregansin said. “And when you walk in a room with someone who has that energy, who's powerful in that way, it's really inspiring, but it's also intimidating because I never had a female coach before.”
In her senior year of high school, Tregansin suffered a tear in her right ACL, putting her collegiate soccer debut on hold.
“I mean, they were just supportive from the beginning. I remember calling her a week after I tore my ACL for the first time. It was my senior year of high school and she was just really sad for me. You could feel the empathy through the phone, you know what I mean? So, just knowing that she had my back in that way really meant a lot to me.”
Maria Tregansin“It means the world if you were to tell me that I would be the captain this year. If I was telling little 18-year-old Maria, she would have told me I was lying. There's no way I would come back from this, you know?”
Maria Tregansin
She notes that football has given her everything in her life, including her education, her best friends, and endless memories that remind her why football is such a gift.
Tregansin’s accolades range far beyond the pitch and into the classroom as well, after she graduated this past summer with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. She is currently pursuing her Master of Science in biomedical engineering at UCF, but she could not have reached as high as she has without the influence of her parents.
Growing up, Tregansin was told to focus on two things, school and one other activity to dedicate time to. Her father always emphasized that her education was to be her primary focus, since every football career comes to an end at some point. Both of her parents were a big inspiration to her during her recoveries from her injuries, and continue to have her back as she pursues her master’s degree.
Beyond UCF, the Brazilian midfielder hopes to play soccer professionally, continuing to serve as an inspiration and role model for her teammates and her family, including her three younger brothers Victor, Joaquin, and Marcelo. After her football career, she aspires to impact and contribute to society through biomedical engineering.
In the present, the Knights’ talisman leads the squad into the conference slate of the 2025 schedule with one assist to her name on the heels of a 6-1 start, the best in program history since 2002. Through the first five matches, the Black and Gold achieved a 5-0 start, their best in the program’s Division I era to date.
“We've been working hard since the end of June. So we're hoping that we can carry this momentum into conference play, because it's half of the season out of conference, and then it's a totally different ball game in conference play. So, we want to maintain that unity that we've been having in that sense of family, culture, and high energy, and keep that going into conference play.”
Maria Tregansin