# 2023 UCF Knights men's soccer team

The 2023 UCF Knights men's soccer team represented University of Central Florida in the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It is the Knights' first season playing in the Sun Belt Conference.
The Knights were given an At-Large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the twelfth seed. However, they were upset by unranked Vermont 3-2 after 2 overtime periods.

## Background

In 2022 UCF played their final season as an American Athletic Conference team and finished the season 6-7.
It was announced in 2021 that UCF would join the Big 12 Conference in 2023, however, the Big 12 does not support men's soccer. On June 21, 2022 UCF announced they would join the Sun Belt Conference for men's soccer starting with the 2023 season.

## Squad information
### Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | USA | Luciano Natoli |
| 2 | DF | USA | Zane Bubb |
| 3 | DF | FRA | Raphael Crivello |
| 4 | MF | GER | Jonas Fritschi |
| 5 | MF | SEN | Ousmane Ba |
| 6 | DF | BRA | Anderson Rosa |
| 7 | FW | SEN | Mouhamed Pouye |
| 8 | MF | USA | Beto Ydrach |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Lucca Dourado |
| 10 | FW | FRA | Clarence Awoudor |
| 11 | FW | SEN | Malang Mandiang |
| 12 | MF | USA | Robbie Soronellas |
| 13 | DF | ISR | Ron Ben Dakon |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | FW | POR | Fabio Guerreiro |
| 15 | MF | FIN | Saku Heiskanen |
| 16 | DF | CRC | Timothy Arias |
| 17 | MF | NZL | Oscar Hough |
| 18 | MF | FRA | Yanis Belatrache |
| 20 | DF | CRC | Brandon Calderon |
| 21 | FW | GHA | Emmanuel Bam |
| 22 | MF | USA | Drew Hansen |
| 23 | DF | GER | Arne Michaelis |
| 24 | MF | USA | AJ Seals |
| 26 | GK | USA | Shane Wright |
| 27 | GK | COL | Pablo Ossabal |
| 28 | FW | USA | Junior Trucillo |
| 29 | FW | USA | Joey Mueller |
| 30 | MF | ISR | Itai Levisman |
| 31 | GK | ESP | Juanvi Muñoz |

### Coaching staff

| Position | Name |
| Head Coach | Scott Calabrese |
| Associate Head Coach | Paul Souders |
| Associate Head Coach | Jamie Davies |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Devala Gorrick |
| Director of Operations | Carter Sadin |
| Athletic Trainer | Elisabeth Bird |
| Assistant Director of Sports Performance | Joe Howard |
Source

## Schedule

| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| August 12* 7:00 p.m. | | at Jacksonville | W | | UCF Soccer and Track Complex Orlando, FL |
| August 17* 7:00 p.m. | | at South Florida War on I-4 | L 0-2 | | Corbett Stadium Tampa, FL |
| Regular season ||||||
| August 24* 7:00 p.m. | | at No. 9 Clemson | W 2-1 | 1-0-0 | Riggs Field (4,090) Clemson, SC |
| August 27* 8:00 p.m. | | Stetson | W 2-1 | 2-0-0 | UCF Soccer and Track Complex (593) Orlando, FL |
| September 1* 7:00 p.m. | No. 14 | NC State | W 3-1 | 3-0-0 | UCF Soccer and Track Complex (397) Orlando, FL |
| September 5* 7:00 p.m. | No. 6 | No. 11 FIU | T 2-2 | 3-0-1 | UCF Soccer and Track Complex (618) Orlando, FL |
| September 9* 7:00 p.m. | No. 6 | Brown | W 2-0 | 4-0-1 | UCF Soccer and Track Complex (581) Orlando, FL |
| September 15 7:00 p.m. | No. 5 | No. 4 West Virginia Big 12 Derby | T 2-2 | 4-0-2 (0–0–1) | UCF Soccer and Track Complex (1,061) Orlando, FL |
| September 23 7:15 p.m. | No. 3 | at No. 1 Marshall | L 0-1 | 4-1-2 (0–1–1) | Hoops Family Field (3,075) Huntington, WV |
| September 29 5:00 p.m. | | at Kentucky Big 12 / SEC Challenge | | | Vickie Bell Soccer Complex Lexington, KY |
| October 7 7:00 p.m. | | Georgia Southern | | | UCF Soccer and Track Stadium Orlando, FL |
| October 14 7:00 p.m. | | at Old Dominion | | | Old Dominion Soccer Complex Norfolk, VA |
| October 18 7:00 p.m. | | Coastal Carolina | | | UCF Soccer and Track Stadium Orlando, FL |
| October 22 6:00 p.m. | | at South Carolina Big 12 / SEC Challenge | | | Eugene E. Stone III Stadium Columbia, SC |
| October 27 7:00 p.m. | | at Georgia State | | | GSU Soccer Field Atlanta, GA |
| October 31 7:00 p.m. | | James Madison | | | UCF Soccer and Track Stadium Orlando, FL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| United Soccer | — | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | |