Aug. 22, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - As the 2007 regular season approaches, the UCF women's soccer team will have two home exhibition matches this week before kicking off the new year Aug. 31 in Tennessee. The Knights will welcome Northern Illinois Thursday at 5:30 p.m. before hosting USF Saturday at 7 p.m. Both matches are set to take place at the UCF Soccer Complex and admission is free.
UCF opened preseason practices Aug. 13, and is looking to improve on an 11-6-2 overall record from a year ago. The Black and Gold finished in second place in Conference USA with a 7-1-1 league mark, and was picked to finish second in this season's preseason coaches' poll behind SMU. The Knights will be returning five of their top six scorers from 2006, as well as senior goalkeeper Jennifer Manis, who notched four shutouts and 72 saves as a junior.
Northern Illinois and USF already met on the pitch during the exhibition season, as the two programs squared off at UCF Aug. 21. The Huskies tallied a first-half goal while the Bulls pulled even on a goal 10 minutes into the second half in a 1-1 draw. NIU went 8-11-2 in 2006 and are 1-2 during the regular season vs. the Knights. For USF, the Bulls were 6-10-1 last season and have a 1-3 all-time mark vs. UCF.
Following the two scrimmages, UCF travels to the Tennessee Lady Vol Classic to square off against Minnesota Aug. 31 and No. 7 Penn State Sept. 2. The UCF Invitational serves as this year's home opener, where the Knights meet UNLV Sept. 7 and UC Davis Sept. 9. South Carolina is also scheduled to participate in the tournament.
For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.