ORLANDO – With the squad’s season-opening non-conference stretch complete, the UCF men’s soccer team now shifts its attention to Sun Belt Conference action in 2026, beginning with a road matchup against the James Madison Dukes in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Friday evening.
The contest represents the second of three straight matches the Knights will have played away from their home pitch in Orlando on their current road swing, as well as the Black and Gold’s seventh game of the fall overall.
UCF most recently clinched its fourth triumphant result in its first six matches this season, improving to 4-1-1 overall with a 2-0 clean sheet effort against the VCU Rams in Richmond, Virginia, Friday, Sept. 11.
Redshirt junior forward Drew Hansen and sophomore defender Hugo Vogel accounted for the Knights’ two scores, both in the waning minutes of the first half, and junior goalkeeper Matisse Hébert made them stand, notching a single game career high-tying eight saves to clinch his team’s fifth clean sheet in six matches.
Hansen’s goal, which broke the ice in the 34th minute, marked the Cleveland, North Carolina, native’s fourth goal of the season, all coming in his last two games after Hansen recorded his first career hat trick and second career multi-goal affair in the Knights’ 6-0 win over Florida Polytechnic Sept. 6.
He also recorded his second game-winning goal of the season and fifth of his career in the winning effort, matching his previous season high he set a year ago with a pair of game-winners in the Knights’ march to the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship.
Hébert, meanwhile, produced his first eight-save performance since he blanked the Ohio State Buckeyes with eight stops as a member of the Wisconsin Badgers Oct. 3, 2025, and now needs just one more shutout to match his previous season high of six he achieved during his freshman 2024 slate.
With a 4-1-1 record through six contests overall, UCF is off to its best six-game start to a season since the Black and Gold went 4-0-2 through six games to kick off the 2023 campaign.
The team’s five clean sheets are good for a share of most in Division I men’s soccer through play Sept. 14, tied with UC San Diego’s five, and have also ensured UCF at least five clean sheets for the second consecutive season.
With a team goals-against average of just .667, the Knights also rank tied for first in the Sun Belt in the category, and slot among conference leaders in points per game (6.00, 3rd), save percentage (.778, 3rd), total assists (12, 3rd), total points (36, 3rd), and shots on goal per game (6.50, 3rd).
As the team embarks on Sun Belt Conference play, UCF will look to build upon a 2025 slate that saw the program produce a 4-3-2 record against Sun Belt opponents.
The Knights boast an overall record north of .500 in regular-season conference play since joining the Sun Belt prior to the 2023 season, having gone 15-9-3 (.611) in that span, highlighted by a 2-2 draw with then-No. 4 West Virginia in Orlando Sept. 15, 2023, and a 3-0 home win over then-No. 11 Georgia Southern Oct. 10, 2025, before UCF went on its 3-0 run through the Sun Belt Conference tournament with wins over top-seeded No. 19 Kentucky and third-seeded No. 12 Marshall, both on the road, Nov. 12 and 16.
The Black and Gold will begin their conference slate this year against a James Madison squad off to a 2-4 start to the 2026 campaign. The Dukes thus far have bested Gardner-Webb and Longwood, both by 2-0 scores at home, and suffered defeats to Rider (1-0), Radford (2-1), Princeton (2-0) and NJIT (2-0).
James Madison this year is looking to bounce back from a 2025 season that saw the Dukes produce a disappointing 1-10-5 record on the heels of three consecutive seasons with at least eight wins to kick off their tenure in the Sun Belt beginning in 2022, highlighted by a 2023 campaign that saw the program go 10-5-5 and advance as far as the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
The team is led offensively by junior midfielder Manuel Lolas, who in his third year in Harrisonburg has already produced a season high seven points on the strength of a season high three goals and one assist. Two of his three goals have represented game-winners, in the Dukes’ two wins over Gardner-Webb and Longwood, and he was also responsible for his team’s lone goal against Radford.
Junior goalkeeper Erik Jaspers, in his second season as a Duke, has handled all 540 minutes between the goalposts as well, producing a 1.167 goals-against average and a save percentage of .759 with a pair of shutouts entering play Friday evening.
Opening kick is set for 7 p.m. from Sentara Park Friday and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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.