Softball, Soccer, and Basketball all had memorable moments

With 11 teams qualifying for post-season play in 2026, there was no shortage of big games involving the UCF Knights sports program. In part two of the series, Eric Lopez brings you the top five games across all UCF Sports in 2026.

Honorable Mention

Women’s Tennis: #25 UCF 4 at #12 Arizona State 3, March 8, 2026 

The Women’s tennis team earned its first statement win of the season, taking down the 12th ranked Arizona State Sun Devils in a 4-3 victory. The Knights would go on to share the Big 12 Championship with the Sun Devils and make the NCAA Tournament reaching the round of 32. 

Rowing: #11 UCF Rowing at Big 12 Championships, May, 17, 2026 

The Knights went five-for-five at Nathan Benderson Park, with all boats claiming first-place in their respective races, securing an automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships and winning 2nd straight Big 12 Championships. They would finish 16th in NCAA Championships, ending the season ranked 16th in the final poll. 

Top 5

5: Softball- UCF vs Jacksonville State, May 15, 2026 (NCAA Tournament) 

COCO COMES THROUGH!!! pic.twitter.com/LmyVxGg7jm

— UCF Softball (@UCF_Softball) May 15, 2026

Down to their last strike, the Knights found a way to come back and beat Jacksonville State 2-1 in 8 innings. Trailing1-0 in the bottom of the 7th with 2 outs and 2 strikes, Kendall Yarnell hit a double that just stayed fair inside the third base line, which set up Beth Damon, who dropped a base hit to shallow left field to drive in pinch runner Kalista Birkenstock, tying the game 1-1.  

In the 8th, Coco Jaimes’ third hit of the game, an RBI single, scored Sierra Humphreys to advance the Knights to the winner’s bracket game, winning the program’s second-ever NCAA Tournament game when down to the final out and strike. The other win? 2022 winner’s bracket game against Michigan. 

4: Men’s Basketball- UCF at #17 BYU, February 24, 2026 

UCF went 11 of 18 from 3 in the first half as the Knights shocked the 17th-ranked BYU Cougars, and the country, with a 52-28 lead at the break. The 52 points were one shy of the highest-scoring half in the Johnny Dawkins era dating back to the 53 points scored against Mississippi State on Nov. 17, 2016. UCF opened the second half with a 12-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers from George Beale, to push the lead to 70-35 with just under 14 minutes remaining. They would go on to win the game handily, solidifying an NCAA Tournament birth for the first time since 2019. With the win, UCF also secured back-to-back 20-win seasons under Dawkins, while the 13-point victory marked UCF’s largest road win against an AP-ranked opponent in program history. Themus Fulks had 24 points and 11 assists, breaking the program’s single-season record for most assists in a single season that was set by Sinua Phillips in 1991-92. 

3: Men’s Soccer- UCF vs Ga Southern (2OT), November 9, 2025 (Sun Belt QF) 

Drew Hansen’s goal in the 104th minute completed the Knights’ comeback as they erased a 2-0 second-half deficit to earn the first Sun Belt Conference Tournament win in program history, saving the season. It was the first multi-goal comeback win since 2018.  

Clarence Awoudor’s sixth goal of the season in the 64th minute started the comeback. Less than three minutes later,  Lilian Ricol came through with the equalizer from outside the 18-yard box to tie it up at two. Had UCF not mounted the comeback, the Knights would have likely missed the NCAA Tournament. Instead, they advanced to the semi-finals, where they would beat the conference tournament host and regular-season champion, No. 19 Kentucky, 1-0, to reach the Sun Belt Championship game. The Knights then beat Marshall to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

2: Men’s Tennis – #15. UCF vs. #19 Florida, May 2, 2026 (NCAA Tournament Round of 32) 

Down 3-0 to the Florida Gators in the indoor facility at the USTA Center in Orlando due to weather, UCF battled all the way back, culminating with Yassine Dlimi winning a three-set classic. In the third set, Dlimi fended off two match points and held serve multiple times to force a tiebreaker, ultimately winning that and the match, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) to complete the comeback. It was the second straight year the Knights beat the Gators, and helped them advance to the Round of 16. 

1: Softball – #23 UCF at #9 FSU, May 17, 2026 (NCAA Regional Final) 

In a game that long-time Knights fan Patrick Nurse has called “The Immaculate Correction”, the Knights knocked off the Seminoles in game seven of the Tallahassee Regional Final 4-2, to clinch the second NCAA Super Regional appearance in program history. 

The Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a 2 run Home Run by Beth Damon. Then, the moment many fans will remember: with UCF leading 2-1 and the bases loaded and two outs in the third inning, FSU’s Shelby McKenzie shot a single up the middle to score two runs.  Seminoles’ catcher Anna Hinde slid into home and the ball got away from Damon, allowing another run to score. Noles fans were in a frenzy, creating maybe as loud of an atmosphere as I have witnessed in nearly 20 years of covering UCF Softball. 

Suddenly, the Seminoles were up 4-2. It reminded me of previous UCF teams that have played in the regionals in Tallahassee have had plays like that happen in gut wrenching losses. But! 

The UCF dugout — specifically one of the Knights’ players Taylor Kittleman, noticed that Hinde left the second-base bag early (before the ball had left the pitcher’s hand). The Knights challenged in, and after review, they won the replay. They celebrated. Loudly. Trust me, I was sitting behind the dugout. Everyone heard it in the stadium, because they, like the rest of us, knew how big a moment that was. Instead of FSU having a 4-2 lead and all the momentum, the Knights still led 2-1 and the inning was over!

UCF’s left fielders would take it from there. With the game tied at 2 in the bottom of the 4th,  Izzy Mertes had her biggest hit of her career with a two-run home run, which would turn out to be the difference in the game. UCF Head Coach Cindy Ball-Malone would make a switch before the start of the top of the 7th bringing in Kalista Birkenstock to play left field for Mertes. It would prove to be a huge move as Birkenstock made perhaps the greatest catch in program history with runner at first and one out by robbing FSU’s Ashyton Danley of a hit to preserve the win. 

The victory was UCF’s first over Florida State since April 6, 2011, first over Florida State in Tallahassee since 2007, and the Knights’ first in NCAA Tournament play against FSU, where they previously lost to the Noles in the 2015, 2021, 2023, and 2024 Tallahassee Regionals.