Rather than succumb to the disappointment of a third consecutive shutout defeat to the Marshall Thundering Herd in its 2025 regular-season finale Nov. 4, the UCF men’s soccer team instead used the loss as a learning opportunity.
The contest, after all, marked the squad’s first loss since late September, and the Knights still entered the Sun Belt Conference Tournament riding the momentum of a 5-1-2 stretch spanning their final eight regular-season matches.
Fast-forward to Sunday afternoon, the date of the 2025 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Tournament Championship match in Huntington, West Virginia, after third-seeded and No. 12 Marshall clinched hosting rights for the contest by virtue of consecutive wins over sixth-seeded Georgia State and second-seeded No. 17 West Virginia.
The Knights, after knocking off fourth-seeded Georgia Southern and top-seeded No. 19 Kentucky in consecutive quarter- and semifinal matches in Lexington, Kentucky, would return to the home of the one Sun Belt Conference foe they had yet to earn a non-losing result against.
UCF played one of its most dominant all-around games of the season Sunday, staving off the midnight bell on its Cinderella run through the Sun Belt Conference tournament with a convincing 3-1 road win over the Herd to clinch the first Sun Belt Tournament championship in program history and an automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
The effort secured the fifth conference tournament title in program history, as well as the Knights’ eighth overall conference championship, and their first since 2020-21. The Black and Gold previously won three consecutive ASUN Tournament titles from 2002-04 before emerging victorious in the 2020-21 AAC Tournament.
UCF now enters the 2025 NCAA Tournament as one of the hottest teams in the nation, boasting an 8-1-2 record in its last 11 matches.
UCF’s first goal in four matches against the Herd came courtesy of a highlight-reel right-footed strike from outside the 18-yard box by senior defender Frederic Benedix, inserted into the starting XI for the first time since Oct. 26.
Lilian Ricol, already the winner of the Sun Belt Conference’s Newcomer of the Year award, followed his teammate’s early goal with yet another prolific display of his own in UCF’s most crucial match of the year.
He doubled the Knights’ advantage with his 11th tally of the fall in the 51st minute and later netted his second score of the match in the 65th minute, securing not only his second multi-goal affair of the season but also his third-game winner of the year as well.
With the effort, Ricol, named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, also clinched UCF’s first brace in a conference tournament final since at least 1998, as far back as NCAA records are available.
Ricol was joined on the All-Tournament team by Benedix, Clarence Awoudor, and Claudel N’goubou.
With seven saves during the match, senior goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz bested his previous season high of six this fall, also against the Thundering Herd Nov. 4, and produced his highest single-game total since his seven stops against Old Dominion in Norfolk Oct. 14, 2023.
Knights selected to host FIU in NCAA Tournament
Fresh off the program’s first Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship, UCF men’s soccer will embark on its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance all-time.
The Knights welcome Florida Atlantic to the UCF Soccer Complex on Thursday at 7 p.m. for the sixth home NCAA Tournament contest in the program’s 50th season.
It marks the first time the Black and Gold will compete in the tournament since 2023, when it was the 12th-ranked national seed. The Knights have three wins when hosting an NCAA Tournament match in Orlando.
Just over a week ago, UCF was 67th in RPI and the fifth-seed in the Sun Belt Tournament, needing to pull off at least one top-25 win to put themselves in contention for the NCAA’s and another two to secure automatic qualification.
Not only did the Knights secure an automatic bid, but head coach Scott Calabrese and his squad moved up 35 spots in the RPI to No. 32, garnering the squad the chance to host a first-round matchup.
UCF is 23-9-2 against the Owls all-time, with the last meeting in 2022 preceding the first postseason bout with the 2025 American Athletic Conference champions.
