Nov. 5, 2007
Complete Postseason Notes in PDF Format
ORLANDO (www.ucfathletics.com) - With the No. 1 seed in hand, the UCF women's soccer team travels to El Paso, Texas, for the 2007 Conference USA Championship this week. The Knights open with No. 8 East Carolina Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. Semifinals will take place Friday, while the title match is slated for Sunday at 4 p.m. on CSTV.
Recapping Last Weekend
Needing a victory to clinch a share of the regular-season title, UCF's offense went to work vs. Southern Miss and eventually scored two second-half goals for a 2-0 win. The Knights outshot the Golden Eagles, 27-3, as Brianna Schooley and Danielle Dos Santos each scored for the Black and Gold.
Previewing East Carolina
At 9-4-5 overall and 3-3-3 in C-USA, East Carolina had 12 points in league play to tie for seventh with USM and SMU. USM and ECU owned the tiebreakers to qualify for the postseason as preseason favorite SMU was on the outside looking in. The Pirates have not allowed more than two goals in a match this season, as keeper Amber Campbell has 10 shutouts. UCF defeated ECU in the regular season, 1-0, but the game-winner came from Yvonne George with only 58 seconds left in double overtime.
Not a Bad Record at All
A 12-3-3 overall record certainly has UCF smiling. Besides C-USA, the Knights defeated opponents from the Big Ten, Mountain West, Big West, SEC and MAAC. They also tied two members of the ACC. In all, two of the three losses were by 1-0 scores, including a defeat at the hands of No. 7 Penn State. Meanwhile, the Knights played No. 11 Florida State to a 3-3 draw. Looking back, UCF had a very tough non-conference schedule and survived with a 5-2-2 mark before it went 7-1-1 in C-USA.
Looking for No. 9
UCF has won eight conference tournament championships since 1994, the first year the Atlantic Sun hosted a postseason tournament. But it is still searching for its first in C-USA. Here's a look at how the Knights have fared in the previous two C-USA Championships:
2005
def. Houston, 3-2
lost UTEP, 1-5
2006
lost UAB, 1-2 (OT)
Lovin' that Home Field
UCF went 7-0-3 in home matches this year, with the three ties coming against No. 11 Florida State, Miami (Fla.) and Colorado College. The Knights outscored the opposition at the UCF Soccer Complex, 24-10, in 2007.
The last time UCF was undefeated at home was 1999 when the Knights were 9-0-0.
Conference USA Honors
UCF leads Conference USA with seven total players of the week awards. Most recently, Danielle Dos Santos picked up the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honor and Jennifer Manis added the Defensive Player of the Week award Oct. 15.
Sept. 10 - Yvonne George - Offensive
Sept. 10 - Kelsey Kravec - Defensive
Sept. 24 - Courtney Whidden - Offensive
Oct. 1 - Brianna Schooley - Offensive
Oct. 8 - Yvonne George - Offensive
Oct. 15 - Danielle Dos Santos - Offensive
Oct. 15 - Jennifer Manis - Defensive
Notes on George and Whidden
Before the season began, the UCF coaching staff wondered who was going to replace last year's top goal scorer, Roberta Pelarigo. Pelarigo led the Knights with nine tallies, but no other student-athlete had more than four. But Courtney Whidden has delivered with 11 goals and 24 points, while Yvonne George has scored eight times and amassed 21 points.
Sophomore Scoring
UCF's sophomores have racked up 84 of the program's 124 points this year. Here's a look at the sophomore breakdown:
Courtney Whidden, 11-2--24
Yvonne George, 8-5--21
Becca Thomas, 2-10--14
Brianna Schooley, 5-2--12
Nikki Moore, 1-5--7
Sarah de Leon, 2-2--6
Totals, 29-26--84
Always on the Pitch
Senior Kelsey Kravec is by far the team leader in minutes played (not including goalkeeper Jennifer Manis), totaling 1,687 minutes for the Knights. Senior Arielle Orr is second with 1,508 minutes.
Fan Support
The 956 fans that came out to watch UCF erase a 3-1 halftime deficit to tie No. 11 Florida State Sept. 22 was the largest home crowd since 1982. That year, UCF hosted North Carolina in the NCAA Championship final match on Nov. 21 and the Tar Heels escaped with a 2-0 win in front of 1,134 fans.