Photo courtesy of UCF Athletics

The Knights are set to kick off their season against Boston University

UCF’s men’s soccer season is just a few days away, with the Knights’ home opener scheduled for this Thursday, Aug. 20, against Boston University.

The Knights, coming off a 11-7-3 Sun Belt Conference Championship season, are hungry to get back to work as they are set to begin their season.

They also retained 15 players from last year’s roster. Along with this group, the Knights welcome 13 new faces, including five freshmen.

Head coach Scott Calabrese, who’s returning for his tenth season, said during the Knights’ fall sports media day that while there are new players, the standards remain the same.

“It’s new players, it’s a new team, same standards, even higher in some regards,” Calabrese said. “Now let’s go and try to do it again.”

Among this group of returners is redshirt junior forward Drew Hansen, who returns as the team’s top goal scorer.

Last season, Hansen became the first player with back-to-back postseason game-winning goals since 2021 for UCF. In the team’s Sun Belt Conference Tournament run last season, he solidified the game with clinical goals against Georgia Southern and Kentucky.

Calabrese said Hansen will be the guy to maintain last season’s offensive production at the forward position and believes his role is very important to the team’s success.

“Drew is an unbelievable goal scorer, his work rate is outstanding,” Calabrese said. “His development over the last three years has been incredible.”

Although the Knights finished their last season strong, they started 2-5-1 in the first eight games.

Hansen said the biggest lesson the returning group has learned is to stay out of those early situations and find success early.

“We sort of put ourselves in a situation that we were able to dig ourselves out of at the end,” Hansen said. “I think that ability to grow exponentially throughout the season and start the growth earlier is going to be really important for us.”

Scott Calabrese entrusts returners like Hansen to set the standard for the new additions and believes they have already adopted it.

As for what those standards are, junior defender Gwendal Degorce said discipline remains a focal point if the team wants to meet or exceed last year’s success.

“It’s always putting the right intensity, having that discipline of always working together,” Degorce said. “As well as being disciplined about everything we do, whether it’s on or off the field.”

The Knights prepare to take on big matchups this season, including rematches from last year’s tournament in Marshall and Kentucky.

However, another matchup players are looking forward to is a home matchup against the Clemson Tigers on Tuesday, Sep. 1.

The last time the Knights faced them was on the road on Aug. 24, 2023, when they defeated then No. 9-ranked Clemson 2-1 to earn their first No. 1 national ranking in school history.

Hansen, who watched the spectacle as a freshman, is now excited for a chance to play in this season’s matchup.

“The atmosphere was amazing, and being able to be a part of the team, even though I wasn’t on the field, it was awesome,” Hansen said. “So now getting the opportunity to actually play in that game, those are the games you live for.”

As for what fans should expect from this group this season, Hansen said they should expect a team with effort and a passionate group playing at a certain standard.