Fresh off its eighth conference championship in school history, the ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ menβs soccer team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after a 3-2 victory over Florida Atlantic at the ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ Soccer Complex on Thursday evening.
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ earned the automatic bid to the postseason Sunday after securing its first Sun Belt Tournament championship in program history with a 3-1 win at Marshall. While the majority of ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs teams compete in the Big 12 Conference, the league does not sponsor menβs soccer as an affiliated sport. The menβs soccer team joined the Sun Belt in 2023.
The Knights are the only program in the state of Florida and one of 15 in the country to see both their menβs and womenβs soccer programs advance to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Road to the Championship
After a first-round win over Georgia Southern, the Knights toppled two nationally ranked opponents in their run to the top of the Sun Belt, besting No. 19 Kentucky and No. 12 Marshall for their second and third ranked wins of the season. This year marks the teamβs first season in history with at least three top-25 ranked victories.
βHow incredible this group of young men is β I could not be prouder. This group was 2-5-1 to start the season, and to end the season as Sun Belt Champions and win on the road and go through the teams we went through and then win at Marshall, what character this group has displayed,β head coach Scott Calabrese says. βItβs an incredible achievement, and weβve put in a lot of work. The response from the team, the level went up from our players. They are determined to keep going.β
Heading into Sundayβs championship match at Marshall, the Thunder Herd had been defeated just twice all season, and not on their home turf since Nov. 26, 2023, a span of 721 days.
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs win marked the fifth conference tournament title in program history, as well as the Knightsβ eighth overall conference championship, and their first since 2020-21.
The Knights headed to the 2025 NCAA Tournament as one of the hottest teams in the nation, boasting an 8-1-2 record in its last 11 matches ahead of the premier postseason tournament.
NCAA Tournament Info
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ is in the middle of its 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in school history.
With their first-round win over FAU, the Knights remain unbeaten against in-state opponents this season, improving to 2-0-1 in matches against the Owls, then-No. 22 South Florida and Jacksonville.Β The win also marked the team’s first victory in the NCAA Tournament since the program toppled then-No. 17 James Madison, 2-1, in the round of 32 of the 2020 tournament (pushed to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
The Knights will now face No. 15 Georgetown Sunday evening. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. in Washington, D.C. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
