In the Knights' first season as members of the Sun Belt Conference, head coach Scott Calabrese and his squad wasted no time making a statement.
Headlining the acheivements collected by the UCF men's soccer team throughout the fall 2023 season, the Knights earned the first No. 1 national ranking in a regular-season poll by any team in UCF athletics history on the strength of the team's third 10-plus-win season under Calabrese (10-4-2).
The Knights' seventh-year head coach was recognized as the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in his first season in the league after overseeing a dramatic turnaround in the program after it went 6-7-0 overall and missed postseason play entirely in 2022. The honor marked the third individual coach of the year award in his career, and joined the Knights' two AAC Coaching Staff of the Year honors in the American Athletic Conference (2018-19).
Calabrese also saw six of his players recognized in post-season conference honors, including the Newcomer of the Year (Clarence Awoudor) and Freshman of the Year (Saku Heiskanen), while four Knights (Lucca Dourado, AJ Seals, Anderson Rosa and Zane Bubb) were selected to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region teams. Rosa also became the sixth Knight under Calabrese to be selected in the MLS SuperDraft when he saw his name chosen by the Colorado Rapids with the 14th pick of the second round Dec. 19.
The plethora of individual honors and awards all factored in to a dominant fall 2023 campaign authored by the Black and Gold, beginning with a season-opening 2-1 upset victory on the road against the eventual 2023 Division I National Champion and then-No. 4 Clemson Tigers (TopDrawerSoccer).
UCF's upset victory in its season-opener Aug. 24 kicked off a six-match unbeaten streak to begin the season, and the Knights later earned downed Kentucky on the road (1-0) while playing to 2-2 draws against then-No. 11 Florida International and then-No. 4 West Virginia.
In authoring its strong fall regular season, UCF also earned hosting honors for the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, and later the No. 12 national seed and the right to host the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
After he was named the sixth head men's soccer coach at UCF Dec. 5, 2016, Calabrese and staff guided the Knights to three consecutive American Athletic Conference regular season titles and NCAA Tournament appearances, as well as a conference tournament title in 2020-21 throughout his first six seasons at the helm of the Black and Gold. During his first four years, Calabrese’s teams compiled a 45-16-8 record, including a 26-5-6 mark at the UCF soccer complex.
Calabrese has seen five of his student-athletes get selected in the MLS SuperDraft during his tenure, two of which were first round selections. Gino Vivi was taken in the first round, 23rd overall in 2023. Nick Taylor and Yanis Leerman were selected in 2022. Cal Jennings was a first round selection with the 17th overall pick in 2019, followed by Jonathan Dean with the 39th overall pick.
The sixth season of Calabrese’s tenure saw the Knights earn a ranked win over No. 13 Charlotte, the fourth straight year in which UCF had beat a ranked opponent and the fifth straight in earning a result. 2022 saw Lucca Dourado and Anderson Rosa receive nods to the All-Conference First Team while Vivi was a member of the Second Team and Juanvi Muñoz was named to the All-Rookie Team. Dourado, Rosa and Vivi were named to the 2022 All-East Region Second Team.
Dourado and Vivi were also members of the 2021 All-East Region Second Team and were two of six total All-Conference selections in 2021. Dourado was the lone Knight on the First Team while Vivi, Rosa, Yanis Leerman, Nick Taylor and Mauricio Villalobos all earned Second Team nods.
The fourth campaign of Calabrese's tenure was delayed due to the global pandemic of COVID-19. The 2020 fall season was pushed to the spring of 2021 with a shortened, 10-match, conference-only schedule. The team got off to a slow start, coming out of the gates 1-3. UCF quickly rebounded as they won six consecutive matches to earn their third straight American regular season crown. The unbeaten streak didn't stop there, as the Knights topped SMU in penalty kicks in the conference tournament semifinals before going on to defeat Tulsa 1-0 in the championship match, earning the program's first conference tournament title in The American and securing an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which had been cut from 48 teams to 36 for the season due to COVID-19. The Knights sat dormant in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as they had earned a bye for the third straight season. They met James Madison in the second round, besting the Dukes 2-1 to advance to the team's second straight Sweet 16 appearance.
Year number three of the Calabrese era was the most successful thus far and could arguably be tabbed as the best season in program history. The Knights posted a record of 15-3-2 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, the farthest the team has ever gone. The 15 victories ties a program high and was the highest win total in UCF’s Division I tenure. The Black and Gold posted a 6-0-1 record in conference play, making them just the third team in the history of The American to go unbeaten in conference play.
For the second straight season, Calabrese and staff earned the American Athletic Conference Coaching Staff of the Year. The squad went 16 straight matches without a loss, obliterating the previous record of 10 straight matches unbeaten which was achieved last season. The program earned their second straight national seed ahead of the NCAA Tournament, checking in at No. 9. In the second round, the Knights defeated Missouri State by a score of 2-1 in overtime. The victory marked the first time that UCF had advanced to the third round of the tournament.
Calabrese had the offense clicking on all cylinders in 2018 and 2019 as they were one of the top scoring teams in all of Division I. During those two seasons, the Knights had been ranked top 10 in the nation in almost every offensive category including total assists, total goals, total points, scoring offense, points per game, assists per game and goals per game. They were the top team in shots per game and shots on goal per game in 2018 and led the nations in corners in 2019. UCF was also the top team in The American in all of those categories.
The accolades have piled up over the past three seasons. The Knights took home four major conference accolades in 2019. Jennings won his second consecutive Offensive Player of the Year while Yannik Oettl earned his second straight nod as goalkeeper of the year. Yoni Sorokin was dubbed as the Midfielder of the Year while Vivi was honored as the Rookie of the Year. The Black and Gold had five All-Conference selections in The American, including four on the First Team. Two freshmen made their way onto the All-Rookie squad. The awards kept coming during the 2020-21 season as Oettl three-peated as the conference's Goalkeeper of the Year and Sorokin repeated as the Midfielder of the Year. Five Knights made the All-Conference First Team and another made the cut for the Second Team. Three rookies were named to the American's All-Rookie Team, and the team was tabbed with the conference's Fair Play Award.
Calabrese and company have had a hand in coaching two All-Americans throughout their tenure. Jennings was named to the All-American First Team in 2018 and 2019 while Leerman earned a nod to the All-American Second Team in 2020-21.
Three of UCF’s eight NCAA Tournament nods have come from Calabrese, with the first two including hosting privileges as the Knights were the No. 14 national seed in 2018 and No. 9 in 2019. The team shattered their highest rankings in the United Soccer Coaches poll those seasons, as the team set a personal best of No. 7 in 2018 and went on to climb as high as No. 5 in 2019.
Calabrese also produced a two-time MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist in Cal Jennings who scored 20 goals in 19 games including three hat tricks in 2018. The following season saw Jennings post 18 goals in 20 games and tally a hat trick in The American tournament semifinals.
2018 saw UCF win their first conference title since 2011 as they took the regular season crown with a 5-1-1 record in conference play. Overall, the Knights finished 13-3-3 and put together an impressive 8-2-3 record at the UCF Soccer Complex scoring 29 goals and grabbing 86 points. Three major award winners were produced (Offensive, Midfielder, Goalkeeper of the Year), seven All-Conference selections, and eight Player of the Week awards from The American. They also produced five All-Region selections and two All-Americans (Cal Jennings and Louis Perez). In addition to all the awards, the Knights capped off the regular season with a ranking of No. 9, which was the third highest in program history at the time.
In his first season with UCF, the Knights went 8-6-2 overall and 4-2-1 in conference play. The team went undefeated at home posting four wins and finished second in the American Athletic Conference under Calabrese’s leadership. During the 2017 season, the Knights were awarded The American Player of Week five times, earned five all-conference selections, two all-rookie honors, and two all-region winners. Also during his first season in The American, the Knights finished first in points (39), goals (13), and assists (13), while senior Matias Pyysalo dominated the offensive game taking Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Calabrese spent the previous three seasons before coming to UCF at FIU, taking the program to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in over 10 years by capturing the 2015 Conference USA Championship. He helped the Panthers to consecutive appearances in the finals at the C-USA Championship.
"I am very excited about the pedigree that Scott Calabrese brings to UCF," White said. "The soccer culture in Orlando has grown exponentially over the last several years, and I believe Coach Calabrese can help us add to that culture here at UCF. Scott has had great success in his coaching career. He was the region coach of the year at FIU in 2015 and won two conference championships at East Tennessee State, where he started the program from scratch. I look forward to watching him build the Knights into a national power in the soccer capital of the south."
The Newton, Conn., native has been known for building programs and started the program at East Tennessee State in 2008. In three short years, he guided the Bucs to the 2010 Atlantic Sun Championship behind 10 shutout victories, earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The 2010 NSCAA South Region Coach of the Year tallied four seasons with 10-or-more victories and also aided ETSU to the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
"I would like to thank Dr. Daniel J. White and the search committee for providing me with the opportunity to be the next head men's soccer coach at UCF," Calabrese said. "I am beyond excited to join this incredible and growing athletic department that is investing in its student-athletes and programs.
"I had an opportunity to meet the team and talk with the players individually this morning. They are very committed to seeing this program succeed, improve and progress. I can't wait to get started on the field in January and begin building personal relationships with these young men."
Prior to taking the head coaching position at ETSU, Calabrese served four seasons as an assistant at Clemson from 2003-06. He aided the Tigers to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2005 College Cup and a No. 1 national ranking. He additionally worked as the director of the Clemson Soccer Academy, which hosts over 1,800 youth soccer players a year.
As a part of the coaching staff at North Carolina from 2000-01, he helped the Tar Heels to a pair of Elite Eight appearances, which included the 2001 National Championship and 2000 ACC Championship.
He has ties to the central Florida area, beginning his career as an assistant coach at Stetson from 1998-99.
Calabrese also has a connection to UCF women's soccer head coach Tiffany Roberts-Sahaydak, who he coached professionally as a member of the Carolina Courage (WUSA) coaching staff in 2002. He helped guide the Courage as an assistant coach to the Founder's Cup that season.
Calabrese graduated from Bryant College with a degree in business administration. He also holds an "A" coaching license and is a Level I and II certified goalkeeping instructor with the NSCAA.
The Calabrese File
Hometown – Newton, Conn.
Family – Wife, Farrell; Children Kai, Lucca and Kingsley
Education – Bryant College, 1995
Head Coaching Highlights
- Six NCAA Tournament Appearances (2010, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020-21)
- Two NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Appearances (2019, 2020-21)
- Four Conference Tournament Titles (A-Sun – 2010, 2013; C-USA – 2015, American – 2020-21)
- Three regular season conference titles (American – 2018, 2019, 2020-21)
- Two-time Conference Coach of the Year (A-Sun – 2010; C-USA – 2015)
- Two-time Conference Coaching Staff of the Year (American – 2018, 2019)
- Eight years with 10+ victories
- 2010 NSCAA South Region Coach of the Year
- 2015 NSCAA Southeast Region Coach of the Year
- Began ETSU program in 2008
Assistant Coaching Highlights
- Five NCAA Tournament appearances
- Advanced to two NCAA College Cups
- 2001 National Champion (at North Carolina)
- Directed the Clemson Soccer Academy
- Coached professionally with the Carolina Courage (WUSA) and captured the 2002 Founder's Cup
Coaching Record
Year Overall Rec. Win % Conf. Rec. Conf. W %
2008 6-10-1 .382 1-7-1 .167
2009 6-9-3 .417 4-4-1 .500
2010 15-6-0 .714 7-2-0 .778
2011 10-7-4 .571 3-4-1 .438
2012 10-6-4 .600 5-2-1 .688
2013 10-6-4 .600 5-2-1 .688
2014 6-9-1 .406 2-6-0 .250
2015 12-7-1 .625 3-4-1 .438
2016 10-7-2 .579 5-2-1 .688
2017 8-6-2 .563 4-2-1 .643
2018 13-3-3 .763 5-1-1 .786
2019 15-3-2 .800 6-0-1 .929
2020-21 9-4-1 .679 7-3-0 .700
2021 9-8-0 .529 6-4-0 .600
2022 6-7-0 .462 3-6-0 .333
Total 145-99-28 .585 66-49-10 .568