Oct. 14, 2007
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DALLAS, Texas. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Another Conference USA program fell victim to the UCF women's soccer team Sunday, as the Knights defeated SMU, the league's preseason favorite, 5-0, in Dallas. UCF (9-2-2, 4-0-0) has not surrendered a goal in its first four conference matches in 2007, a feat not accomplished since 1999 when it shutout all nine Atlantic Sun foes during that year.
A replay of the match against the Mustangs can be seen on CSTV Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.
Sunday's victory also was the Knights fifth in a row, marking the ninth-straight season that they posted a winning streak of at least five games. Meanwhile, the Black and Gold moved to 5-0-2 in its last seven outings, the longest undefeated streak since 2004 when it went 7-0-1 in an eight-game span.
A lot of the day's offensive production vs. SMU (5-5-1, 1-3-1) came from junior Danielle Dos Santos (Campinas, Brazil), who entered the match with just two assists this year. The transfer from Lincoln Memorial University got into the game with less than 17 minutes remaining in the first half, and went on to become the 33rd player in UCF history to notch a hat trick. Dos Santos became the first Knight to score at least three goals in a game in over five years (Ansley Gascoigne vs. Belmont, Oct. 6, 2002).
Dos Santos also added two assists for an eight-point affair, which tied for fifth all-time. She fell two points shy of matching Kelly Kochevar's UCF record for points in a match, as the former Knight scored five goals for 10 points vs. Stetson in 1993.
Sophomore Brianna Schooley (Coral Springs, Fla.) was a threat as well vs. the Mustangs, registering her second two-goal performance of 2007. On defense, senior Jennifer Manis (Pensacola, Fla.) made five saves, four in the first half, to record her fifth shutout. She moved her season total in saves to 67, which ranks 10th in UCF single-season history. In three years with the Knights, Manis now has 149 stops, which stand at fifth place on the career charts.
"It was a great overall effort today," said head coach Amanda Cromwell. "Manis came up with a couple of big saves that were really important in the first half. And getting that third goal to begin the second half was huge. Danielle coming off the bench to get her first goal, and then the hat trick was awesome. That has been the trademark of this team. We have so many dangerous players that it's sometimes hard for opponents to focus on just one or two players."
Schooley opened the scoring by converting on a centering pass from dos Santos in the 32nd minute vs. SMU keeper Ashley Gunter. Dos Santos then tallied her first of the afternoon on an eight-yard shot in the 40th minute, with freshman Amanda Martorana (Middleburg, Fla.) earning the assist.
In the second half, Schooley teamed up with dos Santos again in the 68th minute when she dribbled through three Mustangs and fired a shot into the left part of the net. Less than two minutes later, dos Santos added goal No. 2 on a loose ball in the box with junior Jessica Jackson (Chino Hills, Calif.) picking up the helper. She completed the hat trick in the 74th minute by placing a shot into the upper left corner after evading two defenders. Sophomore Sarah de Leon (Lakewood, Wash.) received credit for the assist on UCF's fifth and final goal.
UCF will now prepare for two more tough matches when it returns to Orlando. The Knights will host UTEP Friday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m., and then face Colorado College Sunday, Oct. 21, at noon. Similar to UCF, UTEP is also unbeaten in C-USA with a 3-0-0 record. Admission to both matches is free.
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.