With the second-largest enrollment of any university in theUnited States, UCF is becoming well-known in the U.S. and beyond. Thatrepresentation can be seen on the playing field, as 40 InternationalStudent-Athletes from 22 different countries compete for the Knights. That'snearly 10 percent of all Knight student-athletes.

All of these student-athletes have experienced success bothon and off the field, all while making the transition to a new country andculture.

Of those 40 student-athletes, tennis player and Alicante,Spain native Jorge Blasco is the only one in graduate school. He is currentlyworking on his degree in Civil Engineering and arrived on campus back in thefall of 2011. Blasco admits he was nervous to go to school in another country, butsays the staff in the UCF athletic department helped him make a smoothtransition.

"It was tough for me because I didn't know anyone, but inthe first two or three weeks I met a lot of people," Blasco said.

While Blasco was adjusting to life in the U.S., many of histeammates had either already made the transition or were going through thattransition at the same time.

"That helped a lot," Blasco said. "The tennis team has about80 percent international students. They're all either from Europe or SouthAmerica, so we all had the same difficulties. But we all helped each other."

Senior and Berlin, Germany native Bianca Joswiak has spentthe past four years as a member of the women's soccer team. This year, she willgraduate with a degree in Business Marketing. This past fall, she helped guidethe Knights to their first Conference USA Tournament Championship.

When Joswiak was in her home country, she spent severalyears taking English classes to prepare her for an opportunity here.

"For me, it's a great experience to live in another countryfor a couple years," Joswiak said. "You have to do things on your own andfigure stuff out on your own without your parents and close friends from home.The academic advisors here help you make sure you do your work on time and helpyou adjust to the full schedule with all of the practices and you still findroom for your homework and other assignments."

UCF staff members are always prepared to help the studentswith their transition to another country. The school makes sure all of theincoming student-athletes are prepared and stays in touch with them as much aspossible before they move to the United States.

"Our contact with the international students starts waybefore they even arrive in the U.S.," Rocky Blesso from the UCF InternationalServices Center said. "We have an admissions team dedicated to internationaladmissions and these individuals reach out anywhere from six to 10 months inadvance. We try to give them a better feel of what to expect at UCF before theyarrive and also some of the requirements we have at UCF."

All of the international student-athletes are flourishing atUCF. The 40 students have combined for a 3.29 GPA, on top of setting aside timefor their sports and giving back to the community.

"I'm always extremely impressed and in awe of how focusedour international student-athletes are upon their arrival," Associate AthleticDirector for Academic Services Kimya Massey said. "They truly know what theywant regarding their academics and always find a way to get it done at a highlevel. They continually find a way to be successful with their incredible workethic and ability to adapt in everything they do. They are great role modelsfor all students and we are much more diverse and grateful for their presencehere with us."

UCFdefender Ashley Nicol was named to the CS360 Primetime Performers Honor Roll onWednesday for her performance in the Knights' thrilling shootout against Miamion Saturday. Nicol is one of 13 players around the country to earn thedistinction.

Nicolnetted a highlight-reel diving header with less than six minutes remaining totie the game against the Canes. She would eventually connect on her PK duringthe shootout to help UCF advance to the second round for the sixth-consecutiveseason.

T

Many teams that advance deep in the post season have morethan likely won some close games. The UCF women's soccer team is hoping to makeanother deep run into the post season and head coach Amanda Cromwell sayswinning close games will help her team accomplish that.

Last year, the Knights went to the Elite Eight in the NCAATournament.

Sunday's 1-0 overtime victory against Georgia was UCF'ssecond overtime win of the season. The other win came against then-No. 12 Miami(FL) and three of the Knights' five victories this season have been by one goal.

"In practice, we train for that," Cromwell said. "So whenpost season comes we'll feel calm and collected about things and we can playour game."

Senior forward Tishia Jewell scored the game-winning goalagainst the Bulldogs with under one minute left in overtime. It was her firstgoal of the season.

"We come together as a team and we never give up," Jewellsaid. "We keep on going for it and we don't stop. You have to learn how to playno matter what situation we're in."

Cromwell says winning close games is also about stayingfocused and working together as a team, but there were some other adjustmentsthe team made against UGA increase their chances to succeed.

"We changed the formation at the end of the game to put somepressure on them and we kept that going into overtime," Cromwell said. "We justwant to keep doing what we're doing."

The women's soccer team's next opponent is at Boston Collegeon Sept. 9.

It's rabbit season...duck season...SOCCER SEASON!

Opening day is upon us Knight fans. And what better way tokick it off than a match against rival USF? But before game time commences at7:30 tonight in Tampa, the No. 12 UCF women's soccer team made positive headlines onceagain this week.

Graham Hays of ESPNW broke down the 2012 season andmentioned UCF as a team to watch. Hays writes:

"Central Florida: Last season was tremendous for teams frombeyond the traditional power conferences in women's college soccer, withCentral Florida, Memphis, Pepperdine and Wisconsin-Milwaukee among the programsthat spent much of the season climbing the polls. Central Florida reached thequarterfinals of the NCAA tournament and eliminated North Carolina in ChapelHill in a Sweet 16 penalty shootout. With nine returning players who logged atleast 1,000 minutes last season, the Golden Knights are among the bestpositioned to try and prove last season's upswing was no fluke."

You can read more of the article here. On to Tishia Jewell. 

Our fearless leader has already beennamed to the All-Conference USA Preseason Team, two Preseason All-Americanlists and the Hermann Trophy Watch List. On Friday, she appeared on SoccerAmerica's list of the top 100 players in the country. This ranking - which includessophomore, juniors and seniors - includes the highest ranked college soccerplayers in the nation and will be updated weekly.

Jewell clocks in at No. 31 as the highest ranked ConferenceUSA player. She is joined by fellow conference members Lizzy Simonin (No. 38) andChristabel Oduro (No. 82) of Memphis.