ORLANDO – With training for the 2026 season having opened a couple of weeks ago, the UCF women’s soccer team will hit the pitch for a pair of preseason exhibitions this week.
The Knights will first play at Jacksonville on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Southern Oak Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, before returning to Orlando to host FGCU on Saturday at 12 p.m. at UCF Soccer Complex.
The pair of preseason scrimmages will mark the first chance for fans to catch the 2026 Knights. The Black and Gold welcome back five starters from last year’s squad and 13 returning letterwinners. UCF will also welcome in 10 newcomers to the squad this season.
The Black and Gold are coming off of strong 2025 campaign in which the team went 12-4-5 overall and took sixth in the Big 12 Conference with a 5-1-5 conference record. The 2025 Knights then earned an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the tournament’s second round after recording a 2-0 home win over Maine in the opening round.
Head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak is back for her 14th season at the helm of UCF women’s soccer. Roberts Sahaydak is an Olympic Gold medalist, World Cup champion and two-time NCAA champion. She is also a four-time conference coach of the year and has led the Knights to six NCAA Tournaments during her time in Orlando. She is also a current assistant coach with the U.S. Women’s National Team and will be a part of the USWNT’s 2027 World Cup run in Brazil next summer.
The 2026 campaign will mark UCF’s fourth season of competition in the Big 12 Conference. The Knights tied their best finish in the program’s Big 12 era by taking sixth last year with a 5-1-5 league mark. The Black and Gold were recently picked to finish eighth in the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll that was released earlier in the week.