Over this past month, the UCF Knights sports world has sprung to life as the fall season gets into full swing. Alongside the football team, two other teams remain unbeaten thus far.
We also have our first Knight of the Week and Play of the Week in this first edition of Knight Cap for the 2025-26 athletic year:
Women’s Soccer off to Best Start in NCAA Era
The UCF Women’s Soccer team remains undefeated to start the 2025 season at 5-0, their best start since their inaugural season in 1981.
Eight different players have scored 12 goals for the Knights so far this season. Washington State transfer Rajanah Reed leads the way with three, including the game-winning goal in the 84th minute against Florida to cement Win #5 with a 1-0 victory.
Midfielder Gabi Berchon has two goals this season, thanks to a brace against LSU. It ended up being the Knights’ only scores of that night, with her second goal coming with 12 seconds left, handing them the win, 2-1. She was named Big 12 Freshman of the Week for her contributions.
The third multi-goal scorer, Long Beach State transfer Liz Worden, also has two goals, but she also leads the team with four assists.
“It’s always great to start off the season strong,” head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak said after the Knights’ third win of the season against South Florida. “You can’t get too high or get too low, but for us, our goal is to get better with every game as we win too.”
The Knights go for a 6-0 start as they host Florida International at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.
Men’s Soccer Starts Off 1-3
The UCF Men’s Soccer team split their first two home games of the season and currently stand at 1-3 on the year.
The Knights’ lone win came in their home opener on Wednesday against UTRGV, thanks to four first-half goals, including this back-heeler by Claudel N’Goubou that landed at #9 on the SportsCenter Top Ten:
That was the first of three goals in 8 minutes, and turned out to be all UCF needed in a 4-0 win.
Sunday was a different story, with #23 UNC-Greensboro coming to town. The Knights gave up the first two before getting a penalty kick in the 87th minute, which Clarence Awoudor promptly buried to cut the Spartan lead in half:
However, that was as close as UCF would get as UNCG held on for a 2-1 win, bringing its losses this season to Top 25 teams to two.
Head coach Scott Calabrese said following the Knights’ loss to UNC Greensboro on Sunday that he’s seen “big strides” from the team in “every facet” of their play.
“Now we need to turn those into results,” Calabrese said. “We need to continue to create, or we need to create more chances and better chances, but I see a huge amount of improvement in this group.”
The Knights face South Florida in Tampa at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Volleyball Sweeps First Tournament of Botsford Era
UCF Volleyball started its season 3-0 under new head coach Matt Botsford over the weekend.
We will have a full article on the Knights’ undefeated start shortly.
Cross Country Season Underway in Jacksonville
The UCF Cross Country team finished third in their first race of the season at the Florida Intercollegiate at UNF.
Sophomore Ava Quattrocchi led the way for the Knights, finishing 12th overall with a personal-best 18:10.0, followed closely by senior Izzy Richardson in 13th with an 18:12.3 in her first cross country race since Oct. 4, 2024.
Two other UCF runners posted personal bests in the 5K: Bailey McClain (18:29.4) and Madison Patchan (18:20.9).
The Knights head to Huntsville, Alabama, for the Southern Showcase on Sept. 12.
Men’s Golf Tees Off 2025-26 Season
The UCF Men’s Golf team competed in the first tournament of their fall slate this weekend, the Island Resort Collegiate.
The Knights finished in seventh in the 12-team field at 22-under par (842), mostly fueled by an 18-under par (270) second round.
Individually, UCF was led by junior Clemente Silva, who finished in a tie in 18th overall at 7-under (209).
The Knights will be back in action on Sept. 15-16 at the Bearcat Invitational.
Knight of the Week
Gabi Berchon, Women’s Soccer
Speaking of whom…
