Oct. 31, 2008
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (UCFAthletics.com) - The No. 22 UCF women's soccer team improved their NCAA Tournament credentials Friday in a 4-1 win at Southern Miss in the 2008 regular-season finale. The Knights (12-4-3, 7-2-2) now look forward to the Conference USA Championship as the No. 3 seed, but will have to wait until the completion of all of Friday's matches to learn their first-round opponent on Wednesday in Houston.
With the victory over the Golden Eagles (5-13-1, 1-10-0), UCF recorded its seventh victory in C-USA play. The Black and Gold has now posted at least seven league wins in 10-straight seasons. Meanwhile, it will go into the C-USA Championship riding a four-game winning streak.
Making her first start of her UCF career, junior keeper Lynzee Lee (Kailspell, Mont.) stopped two shots in the first half before giving way to freshman Aline Reis (Campinas, Brazil) due to an injury. Reis came away with four saves, setting up senior Jessie Gardner (Sarasota, Fla.) who played the final 8:56 between the pipes.
"I'm proud of our overall effort today," said head coach Amanda Cromwell. "The goalkeepers led the way as Lynzee, Aline and Jessie took away their potential chances on corners and free kicks. Our defenders fought hard against a very physical front line, our mids had a very high work rate and our forwards made dynamic, dangerous runs.
"We have a nice attacking rhythm and we have only given up one goal in the last four games heading into the tournament. We are excited for the seeds to be set and to play on Wednesday."
The Knights were averaging over three goals per game in their last three matches, and the offense continued to roll by taking an early 1-0 lead vs. Southern Miss. In the 12th minute, junior Nikki Moore (Virginia Beach, Va.) connected with senior Danielle Dos Santos (Campinas, Brazil) on a pass and dos Santos found the back of the net for her fifth of the year.
Southern Miss, which was hoping to end its eight-game losing streak, struck back in the 30th minute on a goal from Jordan Gauthier as both teams went to the break all knotted up at one apiece.
It took only 17 seconds for the Knights to place the first shot of the second half on net, when junior Becca Thomas (Burlington, Wash.) witnessed her attempt be stopped by keeper Holly Cox. Eventually in the 52nd minute, UCF grabbed the one-goal margin again on junior Yvonne George's (Winter Springs, Fla.) fifth tally of 2008. Dos Santos picked up the assist on the go-ahead score.
After watching dos Santos and George tie her for the UCF lead in goals, junior Courtney Whidden (Palm Harbor, Fla.) jumped back into the top spot in the 67th minute with her sixth goal. Whidden put away a pass from sophomore Lauren Halbert (Niceville, Fla.) from 10 yards out to provide the Knights with some insurance and a 3-1 advantage.
To complete the day's offense, freshman Andrea Rodrigues (St. Petersburg, Fla.) got into the act in the 85th minute, tapping in a crossing pass off the foot of junior Brianna Schooley (Coral Springs, Fla.) for the final 4-1 margin. The Rodrigues goal was her first at the Division I level.
UCF now prepares for the postseason, traveling to Houston for the 2008 C-USA Championship hosted by Rice Nov. 5-9. The title match will be televised live by CBS College Sports on Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. ET with the winner receiving the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
Postgame Notes
UCF (12-4-3, 7-2-2) - 4
USM (5-13-1, 1-10-0) - 1
Goals: UCF Danielle Dos Santos (5) 12th, USM Jordan Gauthier (1) 30th, UCF Yvonne George (5) 52nd, UCF Courtney Whidden (6), 67th, UCF Andrea Rodrigues (1) 85th
- Andrea Rodrigues became the 13th different Knight to score a goal this year. UCF had 12 different players score at least one goal in 2007.
- Lauren Halbert's assist on Courtney Whidden's second-half goal was the first helper of her career.
- Defender Nikki Moore now has two assists this season and nine in three years with the Knights.
- Brianna Schooley and Danielle Dos Santos each stretched their season assist total to five.
- UCF outshot Southern Miss, 21-12. It has posted more shots than its opponent in the last five contests, and in eight of the last nine.
- The Knights moved to 4-0-0 all-time against the Golden Eagles.