ORLANDO – A mainstay between the posts throughout his four-year career with the Black and Gold, former Knights starting goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz has taken the next step in his playing career.
He became the third UCF alum this offseason to ink a deal to play within the professional ranks, joining Club Deportivo Soneja to return home and play in his native Spain.
Muñoz started each of his 58 matches throughout the last four seasons in Orlando, totaling over 5,200 minutes on the pitch and winning 31 games for the UCF men’s soccer program throughout his collegiate tenure.
A selection to the American Athletic Conference’s All-Rookie team in 2022, Muñoz later earned three more weekly conference honors over the next three seasons, one in The American and two more in the Sun Belt. He concluded his collegiate career ranking among all-time program leaders in saves (174, 8th), goals-against average (1.26, T-8th) and shutouts (12, 8th).
During his senior 2025 season, Muñoz produced a 1.28 goals-against average in 21 matches in the Knights’ run to their Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship and second round of the NCAA Tournament, setting single-season career bests in shutouts (5), total saves (60) and wins (11).
His 60-save campaign represented the first time he had eclipsed the 50-save mark in a season, and he also yielded two or fewer goals in 19 of UCF’s 21 total matches and allowed one or fewer goals in 12 of the Knights’ 21 contests, in addition to his five clean sheets.
The Valencia, Spain, native helped clinch UCF's first win over a No. 1 seed in a conference tournament in program history with the team's 1-0 win over (1) No. 19 Kentucky in the Sun Belt Conference tournament semifinal Nov. 12. The effort also represented UCF's first postseason clean sheet since 2021, as well as the Black and Gold's first postseason win over a ranked opponent since 2021.
Of UCF's 10 matches against teams ranked within the United Soccer Coaches' top 25 polls, Muñoz allowed two or fewer goals in eight, highlighted by the team's Sun Belt Conference tournament semifinal shutout of (1) No. 19 Kentucky Nov. 12 and its 3-0 clean sheet against then-No. 11 Georgia Southern.