Knight Cap: Men’s Soccer Season Ends Soaked (2025)

It’s time to catch you up on the latest from around the UCF Knights Sports world in this week’s KnightCap!

Men’s Soccer Falls in Sun Belt Quarterfinals

pic.twitter.com/RGEesQhvDT

— UCF Men's Soccer (@UCF_MSoccer) November 11, 2024

On a rain-soaked Sunday night, the UCF Men’s Soccer team’s season once again ended in the Sun Belt Tournament Quarterfinals Sunday, as the #3-seed Knights fell to #6-seed James Madison, 2-1.

With the loss, the Knights (7-6-3, 5-4 Sun Belt) drop to #55 in the RPI rankings, which will likely keep them on the outside looking into the 48-team NCAA Tournament field.

The evening started firmly in UCF’s favor, outshooting the Dukes, 6-0, in the first half. However, both teams ramped up their offensive urgency in the second half, with 20 combined shots from both squads.

Of James Madison’s nine total shots, three of them were on target and two of them found the net in the 65th and the 74th minute respectively to clinch the win.

65' | Top bin from Evan Southern!!

JMU 1, UCF 0#GoDukes pic.twitter.com/yJlBCfDfev

— JMU Men's Soccer (@JMUMSoccer) November 11, 2024

Not helping matters for the Knights, defender Jonas Fritschi was ejected from the match in the 70th minute for denying a goal-scoring opportunity. Yet, despite being down a man, they were still able to get on the board in the 79th minute thanks to midfielder Javier Lopez Sanchez scoring what would be his only goal of the season.

Javi gets it through traffic for his first collegiate goal! pic.twitter.com/pmJnay6n1i

— UCF Men's Soccer (@UCF_MSoccer) November 11, 2024

The Dukes kept the Knights off the board for the remaining 10 minutes to avoid an overtime period. They ultimately fell to #2-seed Marshall in their following match.

As for the Knights, they will look forward to the 2025 season, where they will have to replace departing seniors like Fritschi, Lucca Dourado, who finishes his career with 43 goals, the 5th-most in program history, and Anderson Rosa, who returned for one more year after being selected in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft by the Colorado Rapids.

Volleyball Swept Twice in Texas

Final from Waco

Baylor 3, UCF 0

— UCF Volleyball (@UCF_Volleyball) November 9, 2024

The UCF Volleyball team could not pick up a set on its road trip to the Lone Star State, getting swept by #18 TCU and #17 Baylor.

The Knights (8-13, 1-11 Big 12) came close to winning its first set since Oct. 25, when stuck with the Horned Frogs to tie the set, 24-24. However, TCU rallied for the last two points, extending UCF’s set losing streak, which now sits at 12.

Outside Hitter Avah Armour was once again the Knights’ primary attacker, leading the Knights with 21 kills across both matches.

While UCF returns home, the schedule does not get easier as #24 BYU and #20 Utah come to town on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. respectively.

Men’s Tennis Falls at ITA Sectionals

The UCF Men’s Tennis team’s collegiate fall slate drew to a close last week at the ITA South Sectional Championships in Tallahassee and the Bonita Bay Classic in Bonita Springs.

In Tallahassee, all three Knights fell in the first round of singles play:

  • Redshirt junior Santiago Giamichelle lost to #1 seed Martin Katz of Miami (FL), 6-3, 6-2
  • Junior Mehdi Benchakroun lost to Georgia Tech’s Gabrielle Brancatelli, 6-4, 6-2
  • Yassine Dlimi kept it close in the first set but fell to Florida State’s Youcef Rihane, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2

Meanwhile, in doubles play, Benchakroun and Giamichelle also fell in the first round in a close bout with Georgia Tech’s Nate Bonetto and Gianluca Carlini, 7-6 (8-6), 406, 8-10.

In Bonita Springs, where the rest of the Knights took on players from Florida, Florida Gulf Coast, and Tulsa, true freshman Adriano Dzhenev highlighted the weekend with a perfect 3-0 singles play run and going 2-1 in doubles play.

Click here for the full results of the Bonita Bay Classic.

The Knights will take on professional tournaments on their own as they prepare for the dual match season in the spring.

Women’s Tennis Out of NCAA Individual Contention

Congratulations to Liv and Aya who made a great run to the W35 Miami Doubles Finals pic.twitter.com/pcN1F44V3x

— UCF Women's Tennis (@UCF_WTennis) November 9, 2024

The UCF Women’s Tennis team will not be represented at the NCAA Individual Tennis Championships after all three of its players fell at the ITA Women’s South Sectional Championships on Thursday.

Senior Sophia Biolay rated a #5 seed, fell in the opening round to Ole Miss’ Ludmila Kareisova, 6-2, 6-2, in singles play, eliminating her from the hunt for an NCAA Qualifying spot. However, she did pick up a win over Georgia Tech’s Alejandra Cruz in the consolation draw before falling to Florida’s Talia Neilson-Gatenby to go 1-2 for her trip.

True freshman Jade Psonka also fell in the opening round to Georgia’s Aysegul Mert, the #3 seed, 6-0, 6-2, and followed it up with another loss in the consolation draw to Kentucky’s Zoe Hammond.

In doubles play, Biolay and true freshman Hannah Rylatt had to withdraw due to an injury.

Meanwhile, on the ITF Tennis Tour circuit, sophomore Olivia Lincer and true freshman Aya El Aouni were in Miami for its W35 event. The week was highlighted by a doubles play run by the duo that saw them win three matches en route to the Final, before falling to #1 seed Kayla Cross and Anna Rogers, 7-5, 6-4.

While the fall collegiate season for the Knights is over, they will remain prepping for the 2025 dual-match season in professional tournaments like this one.

UCF Men’s Golf Alum Makes History with PGA Tour Debut

Good luck to our guy Egor, who will make his @PGATOUR debut tomorrow and also accomplish some history ️‍♂️

- https://t.co/YYNsVV0AK8 pic.twitter.com/pS5zO3CnEH

— UCF Men's Golf (@UCF_MGolf) November 13, 2024

UCF Men’s Golf alum Egor Eroshenko became the first native Russian to tee off in a PGA Tour event Thursday at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, per the tournament’s pre-tournament information.

Eroshenko has yet to complete his first round, as play was suspended early due to darkness, but through 16 holes, he is 2-over par, eight strokes back of the leaders in a tie for 80th place.

Eroshenko earned his way into the tournament by winning a qualifier event at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate on Monday.

In other UCF Men’s golf alum news, three former Knights earned their right to compete on the DP World Tour for the 2024-25 season. Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia and Spain’s Manuel Elvira, both already on the Tour, performed well enough to keep their status for another season.

However, joining them will be Slovakia’s Teddy Tetak, who graduated as a Knight after the 2021-22 season. He joins the Tour after graduating from its Qualifying School as one of its Top 20 finishers, finishing in a tie for 18th.

The 2024-25 DP World Tour begins on Nov. 24th at the BMW Australian PGA Championship.

Knight of the Week

Emely Rodriguez, Women’s Basketball

True Freshman Emely Rodriguez https://t.co/lsDDR8G9f2 pic.twitter.com/FkLoYeG7xg

— UCF Knights (@UCFKnights) November 8, 2024

The true freshman utility player started her collegiate basketball career off in style with a pair of double-digit scoring performances against Iona and Marquette respectively.

Knights Play of the Week

Emely Rodriguez sinks a 3-pointer vs. Marquette

FUEGOOO

Emely is % from beyond the arc pic.twitter.com/YeCtspIaCg

— UCF Women's Hoops (@UCF_WBB) November 8, 2024
Knight Cap: Men’s Soccer Season Ends Soaked (2025)
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