Oct. 30, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. - The UCF women's soccer team defeated Houston, 2-1, for a share of the Conference USA regular season title and win No. 100 at UCF for head coach Amanda Cromwell. The Golden Knights improved to 11-9 on the season and 8-1 in C-USA, while the Cougars fell to 8-6-3 and 3-4-2 in league play.
"This 100th win was special because we won conference and it was senior day," said Cromwell. "I am really proud and relieved that we won the championship now, but we need to get the automatic bid in the conference tournament. In conference play we do feel very confident but we are not mistaken and know that anyone can beat anybody in this tournament. We have to be sharp and ready to go for three games in five days.
The duo of Jennifer Montgomery and Roberta Pelarigo struck in the 19th minute of action for the first goal of the match. Pelarigo passed to Montgomery in the box for the score.
Twelve seconds later, Houston evened the score at one apiece. Sophia Mundy sent a pass to Sarah Fisher who netted the ball for the Cougars.
At the end of the first half, UCF had outshot Houston, 8-2, with three shots on goal. Montgomery paced the Golden Knights with four shots, two shots on goal and UCF's lone goal.
Erin Hopkins scored her second goal of the weekend in the 66th minute. Montgomery sent a long pass into the box for Hopkins to kick in and give UCF a 2-1 lead.
When the game was over, UCF was up, 2-1. The Golden Knights had outshot the Cougars, 14-5, while also holding a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Montgomery paced the squad with four shots, two shots on goal, one goal and one assist for a total of three points. Pelarigo and Hanna Wilde were second on the team in shots with three apiece.
In the net, Julie Snaman allowed one goal with one save, while her counterpart, Stephanie Pucek, allowed two goals with four saves.
The Golden Knights return to the turf on Wednesday when the squad heads to Houston, Texas to participate in the Conference USA Women's Soccer Championship as the No. 1 seed. For all the latest championship information, please log onto www.ucfathletics.com or www.conferenceusa.com.