Men's Soccer Blanks Marshall, 4-0, in 2026 Space Game

ORLANDO – The Knights’ defensive efforts, and successes on that end of the pitch, through the team’s first nine games have been apparent and well-documented, but the squad in that span had yet to truly find an offensive rhythm to match.

Entering Saturday’s tilt against the Marshall Thundering Herd, the UCF men’s soccer team had allowed just seven goals through its first nine games, the fewest allowed by the program through a season’s first nine games since 2010, but the Black and Gold were also riding a stretch that had seen them score just three goals in their last three games.

“We’ve had a couple of frustrating results when we’ve had lots of shots on goal, and it wasn’t quite our brand that we’ve envisioned playing,” said sophomore defender Jem Hewlett. “The message was once we score one, the floodgates will open.”

The Knights, re-branded for the evening as the Citronauts in honor of the program’s annual Space Game tradition, indeed scored one, and the dam certainly burst shortly after.

UCF, in its first meeting with Marshall since the Knights claimed the 2025 Sun Belt Conference tournament championship in Huntington, West Virginia, Nov. 16, 2025, produced their strongest effort of the 2026 season thus far, blanking the Thundering Herd, 4-0 at the UCF Soccer Complex Saturday evening.

The effort represented the Knights’ (5-2-3, 1-1-1 Sun Belt) fifth triumph overall and first conference win of the year, jumping up into a three-way tie for fifth in the league table with four points, just three points behind conference leaders Georgia Southern and James Madison.

UCF also clinched its second straight win over the Thundering Herd after Marshall claimed the teams’ first three meetings after the Knights joined the Sun Belt in 2023, and the Black and Gold have now outscored the 2024 national runners-up by an aggregate 7-1 in the last two matchups alone. Saturday’s result represented the Knights’ first shutout of the Herd since Nov. 3, 2012 as well.

In netting four goals Saturday, UCF also became the first team to score at least four times in a single match against Marshall since West Virginia earned a 5-2 win over the Herd in Morgantown Oct. 18, 2023, a span of 1,081 days.

The Citronauts took the match's first lead late in the first half when Hugo Vien took a feed from Leny Jerome just above the 18-yard box and cashed in on his opportunity, netting the first goal of his NCAA Division I career.

Moments after the second half commenced, UCF’s star transfer defender Takahiro Fujita, playing for the first time against the team with which he spent the first three years of his Division I career, doubled his team’s advantage with a well-executed header off a corner kick from Germán Moreno in the 55th minute.

Fujita wasn’t done, though, scoring for a second time in the 57th minute of action with help once again by Moreno and Petter Wingsternaes.

The effort represented Fujita’s first career brace, and with four goals this season, the defender has matched his total from his previous two seasons with Marshall combined and ballooned his career total to eight.

The Knights added one more in the waning minutes of the final half, on an incredible strike off a free kick by Younes Boudinar into the upper right corner of the goalmouth. In scoring his second goal of the season, the second-year Knight set a new single-season career best.

Goalkeeper Matisse Hébert secured his sixth clean sheet of the season with a pair of key saves in the win as well, matching his previous season high set with Wisconsin in 2024, and now owns 16 clean sheets in his three-year career.

UP NEXT
The Knights look to bring their momentum back on the road, as the squad will look to claim three more points in the league table against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. Opening kick is set for 6 p.m. from Conway, South Carolina Oct. 9 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 website at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.