UCF women’s soccer team sent off its seniors with one last War on I-4 victory, defeating the USF Bulls 1-0 at the UCF Soccer and Track Complex Thursday.
Seniors Konya Plummer, Elise Legrout, Payton Grewal, Zandy Soree, Mack Thompson and Jessica Taylor were celebrated before the game, and UCF head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak said the win was really for them.
“The win tonight was absolutely about the seniors,” Sahaydak said. “It wasn’t about USF, it was about them and their legacy and everything they’ve done for this program.”
Both the Knights’ and Bulls’ offense struggled to put the ball in the net during the first half, but with just under three minutes left on board, UCF freshman midfielder Ellie Moreno scored a goal to put the Knights in the lead.
Moreno said her one goal reflected the efforts of the team.
“I think we all played as a team today,” Moreno said. “We all connected and could get the ball over and execute today.”
UCF redshirt freshman goalie Caroline DeLisle faced 19 shots from the Bulls, with a season-high 10 saves, marking her ninth shutout of the season.
DeLisle said the victory against the Bulls and her personal successes can all be credited to the seniors.
“They’ve been incredible role models to all of us,” DeLisle said. “Especially me and Ellie stepping up as younger players, the seniors are the ones that have taken us under their wing and brought us up to be the players that we are, so to get this win for them was incredible.”
With the win, the Knights improve to 10-3-4 overall and 5-2-2 in the American Athletic Conference and will host the No. 6 seed Houston in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Championship tournament Sunday at 1 p.m. at the UCF Soccer and Track Complex.
