Scott Calabrese

Biography

Through two seasons as members of the Sun Belt Conference, UCF men’s soccer head coach Scott Calabrese has firmly entrenched his squad within the upper echelon of the program’s new league. The Knights in 2024 concluded their second campaign with at least seven wins since joining the Sun Belt prior to the 2023 season, and in just two years in the conference have accumulated one MLS SuperDraft selection (Anderson Rosa), three major conference post-season award winners (Calabrese – 2023 Coach of the Year; Clarence Awoudor – 2023 Newcomer of the Year; Saku Heiskanen – 2023 Freshman of the Year), seven All-Conference selections, four United Soccer Coaches All-Region appointments, and two top-three regular-season conference finishes. UCF has also demonstrated its ability to compete with the nation’s best in that span, going undefeated in four of its eight contests against ranked opponents with each match finishing with a score margin of two or fewer goals. On the heels of the team’s seven-win 2024 slate, UCF boasts an aggregate .609 win percentage in its first two seasons in the Sun Belt, accompanied by a dominant 10-4-2 mark in 2023 that saw the Black and Gold, most notably, earn the first national No. 1 ranking, and later unanimous national No. 1 ranking, in a regular-season poll of any athletics program in school history. The Knights’ depth was on display throughout the fall ‘24 campaign, as 13 different players scored at least one goal, highlighted by a pair of braces by player