Men's Soccer to Host Bradley for Tuesday's Senior Night Celebration

ORLANDO – Riding the momentum of consecutive shutout victories, the UCF men’s soccer team is set to complete its 2025 non-conference slate with a Tuesday evening tilt against the visiting Bradley Braves at the UCF Soccer Complex.

UCF will also honor its 10-member senior class in a pregame ceremony during its annual Senior Night celebration Tuesday, when Alex Smith, Malick Thiaw, Claudel N’goubou, Clarence Awoudor, Sora Funakoshi, Juanvi Muñoz, Fabio Guerreiro, Timothy Arias, Frederic Benedix, and student manager Maxson Hernandez-Trujillo will all be recognized.

The Knights most recently produced one of their most complete games of the fall with a 3-0 home victory against the then-No. 11 Georgia Southern Eagles, representing the squad’s first ranked win since it toppled then-No. 9 Clemson on the road to open the 2023 season Aug. 24.

The trio of Lilian Ricol, Claudel N’goubou and Joey Mueller accounted for the Black and Gold’s three scores, and senior midfielder Clarence Awoudor notched his second straight multi-assist match and his fourth such contest of the year.

With nine assists this fall, Awoudor has set a new single-season career high and moved into a tie for the top spot in the nation in total assists with Washington’s Richie Aman entering play Tuesday night.

Ricol retained his place as UCF’s team leader in goals with his fourth of the fall in just the sixth minute of action, a tally that would also mark his first career game-winning goal. N’goubou then scored his third UCF goal in the 15th minute, and Mueller netted his second career score and his first of the season in the 20th minute with aid from Malick Thiaw.

They did it against a Georgia Southern defensive unit that had allowed just six goals through its first 10 matches this season, good for a 0.60 goals-against average in that span and the top mark in the Sun Belt Conference entering play Friday evening.

UCF’s prolific start was more than enough for senior goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz, who, with a pair of saves and help from the defense in front of him, registered his second consecutive clean sheet, his new season-high fourth of the season and 11th of his career.

The Knights defensively also limited the Eagles to just five total shot attempts, the fewest surrendered by a UCF squad against a ranked opponent since the Black and Gold yielded five to then-No. 4 Wake Forest Aug. 30, 2019.

Georgia Southern also mustered just two shots on goal, the second time this season the Knights have allowed two or fewer tries on target against a ranked foe (also then-No. 22 South Florida Sept. 4).

Muñoz now enters Tuesday’s action with a career goals-against average of 1.23, the seventh best career mark in program history, and his 11 clean sheets rank ninth most on the program’s all-time list. The Valencia, Spain, native also boasts the third-best individual save percentage in the Sun Belt this season (.714) and has made the fifth most total saves in the conference (30).

As a group, the Knights have averaged 5.10 points per game through 11 contests this season, good for a share of third in the Sun Belt with Kentucky, and they also rank among the top four in the league in save percentage (.721, 2nd), fewest fouls per game (10.20, 3rd), goal differential (+5, 4th), goals scored per game (1.70, 4th), shutout percentage (.400, 4th), and team goals-against average (1.20, 4th).

UCF’s latest win also further bolstered a winning trend in the month of October under head coach Scott Calabrese, as the squad has produced an aggregate 29-11-3 record in 43 October matches throughout his tenure in Orlando.

The Knights’ Tuesday evening matchup against the Braves, meanwhile, will represent the first meeting between the programs in either’s history. Bradley, a member of the MVC, is off to a 2-5-5 start to the 2025 slate, with wins over Milwaukee and Millikin, and draws with Marquette, Fort Wayne, Omaha, UIC and DePaul.

The Braves are led offensively by junior forward Mitch Coughlon, who has scored a team-best five goals on 13 shots on target through 12 matches, while goalkeeper Drew Berry owns a 1.58 goals-against average, a .756 save percentage and has made 59 saves in his 12 starts.

The senior keeper enters Tuesday’s action second in the MVC and 13th in the nation in saves per game (4.92) and leads the conference with his 59 stops, a mark that also ranks fifth most in the country.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from the UCF Soccer Complex Tuesday evening 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.