Women’s Soccer
The nationally ranked UCF women’s soccer team brought home two wins this past weekend, bumping the Knights up to the No. 23 seed, and leaving them to become the 18th team ever in NCAA Division I history to win at least 22 consecutive conference games (including conference tournaments).
An early goal made by senior forward Tatiana Coleman gave the Knights (9-2-0, 2-0-0 ACC) the lead they needed in their first conference game of the year. The forward’s seventh goal of season was enough to hold off the Tigers (4-5-2, 1-1-0 ACC) for the first half of the game until Memphis’ Valerie Sanderson broke through in the 68th minute for the equalizer, closing UCF’s four game shutout streak.
As an overtime situation approached, Tatiana Coleman connected a ball in the 85th minute but would be denied the goal for the win. Undeterred, Coleman saw another opportunity with less than two minutes to go, shooting the ball in Memphis territory and leaving Tiger’s goalkeeper Valerie Sanderson to deflect the ball into her own net, giving the Knights the win.
“I thought we started off strong scoring a goal really early, we played really well and caught them off guard and put one away early so that was great,” said head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak after the match. “Memphis had us on our heels the majority of the game… We were able to overcome a lot of challenges tonight so I’m really proud of the team.”
In the game that placed UCF’s 2014 women’s soccer team in both UCF and NCAA record books, the Knights left Oklahoma with a 4-1 win over Tulsa (7-4-1, 1-1-0 ACC).
A mere three minutes into the game, senior Ashley Spivey put her team ahead by slipping a shot past Tulsa goalkeeper Courtney McKeon. Met with pressure, Tulsa’s Christina Holmes responded with the equalizer in the 31st minute, but only two minutes later would midfielder Jennifer Martin reclaim the lead for the Knights.
“As the game went on we did gain more confidence… It’s great having a deep team where we can rely on everybody,” said head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak. “Great performance overall, we are happy with the result and we did grow as the game went on.”
Two more goals would be gained by UCF before the game’s end, both made by senior Kayla Darden.
“It wasn’t our best effort by any means, but we knew UCF was going to be a tough team and that they are ranked for a reason,” Tulsa head coach Kyle Cussen said. “They pressed very hard from the start.”
A sixth consecutive win for UCF would help senior Carleigh Williams earn Defensive Player of the Week, her first accolade of the season, and the team’s seventh. The women’s team also leads the league in goals allowed (.64), goals against average (.63) and shutouts, according to UCFKnights.com.
The next conference game will be at home against SMU at 7:00pm on Friday, followed by Houston at home at 1:00pm, Sunday.
Men’s soccer
Despite a 2-4 loss to Indiana last Wednesday, the men’s soccer team fought to put up the two goals made against the No. 17 team.
“I was really proud of our player’s effort tonight,” said head coach Bryan Cunningham in a post-game interview. “Of course, we don’t like giving up four goals in a match, but there were times where we controlled the tempo of the game and created chances that were very dangerous.”
The Knights (1-5-2, 0-0-1 ACC) nearly had their second goal of the night in the 14th minute when a shot from Romario Williams was made at close range, but stopped by Colin Webb, Indiana’s goalkeeper.
Romario would soon cut down Indiana’s two point lead with a goal early in the second half, adding on to a goal made by Jake Weiss in the first half.
UCF and the Hoosiers (5-1-3, 1-1-1 ACC) would finish with 12 shots a piece, with UCF making a match high eight corner kicks.
The Knights tied Memphis (4-2-2, 0-0-1 ACC) in a match played on Saturday, with both teams scoreless in the first half and both teams putting one on the scoreboard in the second.
“I thought that we executed our game plan,” head coach Bryan Cunningham said in a post-game interview. “We controlled the match for 110 minutes, we held possession, and were dangerous. We had a good, positive, momentum even though we had a tough result at Indiana the other night. Our work rate was very good and our attitude was very good. I thought tonight we came out and we took a step forward in terms of how we want to play as a team. We did a lot of things right and we are on the right path.”
Both teams had chances in overtime to win but were unable to capitalize due to pressure made on both sides, trading opportunities until time ran out, and leaving the score tied.
The men’s soccer team will progress, and face Memphis again on October 11th at Memphis.
On Saturday the Knights will host SMU at 7:00pm ET in the conference match.
