Nov. 12, 2004
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Kendra Flock scored her fourth game-winning goal of the season to help lead the UCF Golden Knights (17-3-2) over the number 10 seed University of Florida Gators (16-4-3) 3-2. The last time UCF won in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament was in 1999 when they defeated Furman 1-0 in Greenville, S.C.
Throughout the first half of play, UCF dominated ball position staying on Florida's side of the field. The Golden Knights took their first shot of the afternoon just nine minutes into the game when Becca Eshelman fired a bullet from the center of the goal box into the arms of Florida's goalkeeper Jen Gardner.
Allison Blagriff answered Eshelman's bullet with one of her own that ricocheted off the crossbar during the 19th minute of play.
UF challenged the UCF defenders JoAnna Black, Jessica Hallgren and Kelsey Kravec half way through the first half when Ashley Kellgren took two shots, both of which were saved by UCF's Julie Snaman.
Montgomery took her first shot of the afternoon at the 34:26 mark sending it wide past the goal. Less than four minutes later, Florida took three shots with the end results of one wide, one saved and one high.
The day began to turn more in UCF's direction after Florida's Ashley Harris fouled Flock in the goal box. Courtney Baines came in and punched in her fourth penalty kick of the season to make the score 1-0.
The teams went into intermission with the Gators leading in shots (5-4), corners (2-1) and fouls (11-9). Snaman had three saves for the Golden Knights in the first half.
Florida came out of the break taking two shots within the first two minutes of play. Less than 10 minutes into the second half, Montgomery scored her seventh goal of the season unassisted.
UF's Christine Johnson tried to answer Montgomery's goal but shot the ball high over Snaman's head.
At the 54:15 mark, Flock scored the game-winning goal after heading a pass from a Baines' corner kick.
UF tried again during the 60th minute to score but was unsuccessful. UCF came back and took three shots within the next five minutes with two of the shots high and the other wide. Less than two minutes later, Florida challenged Snaman again only to mishandle the ball and kick it over the goal.
The Golden Knights tried to score again by taking three shots in just 64 seconds with the first shot by Kate McCain hitting off the crossbar, the second by Blagriff that was saved by Florida's goalkeeper Gardner and the third off the leg of Hallgren into the arms of Gardner.
Florida came back with less than 10 minutes left in the game to score two goals and give the UCF faithful a slight scare. UF's Stephanie Freeman scored the first goal on a free kick after UCF committed one of their fouls on the afternoon. Monica Hoyles of Florida answered Freeman with a goal of her own with an assist from Jasmine Johnson. The goal gave new life to the Florida fans that had weathered the rain all afternoon.
Both teams seemed to be evenly matched throughout the game with Florida holding a slight edge in shots (13-12) and corners (4-3). UCF's Snaman had four saves for the afternoon while Florida's Gardner had two. The Golden Knights' defenders played a hard game working on keeping the Florida offenders out of the backfield and away from the goal. Black showed how aggressive she could be in the first half by tripping a Florida offender and receiving a yellow card.
"What a great game, we scored some incredible goals. I think we hit a post in another one. This was one of those games that I was never comfortable with a 3-0 lead because I know that attacking ability of Florida and I know their athleticism, and it showed. They scored two goals in a four-minute span with 10 minutes to go in the game. I was very thankful that we had a three-goal cushion, but at the same time, Florida never gave up and showed a lot of heart and class with that," said Head Coach Amanda Cromwell.
With the victory, it marked the first time since the University of Florida officially added women's soccer as a recognized sport that UCF has won.
UCF will play the winner of the Florida State/Boston College game on Sunday, November 14 in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in Gainesville. If you are unable to see the game in person, live stats will be provided.