Aug. 13, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - After suffering through a lengthy rain delay, the UCF women's soccer team used a late goal by freshman Nicolette Radovcic and a 29-4 cushion in shots to defeat Rollins, 1-0, in an exhibition match Thursday at the UCF Soccer Complex. It was the lone scrimmage of the preseason, as the Knights will now start preparing for the regular-season opener at home vs. Florida Gulf Coast Aug. 21 at 6 p.m.
"We played a lot of players and used three different formations," said head coach Amanda Cromwell. "We created a lot of goal-scoring opportunities and were unlucky not to score one in each segment. But I was impressed with a lot of the rookies and veterans and it will make our jobs at picking a starting lineup very hard for this season.
"I'm not surprised by how many shots we had, but I was surprised by the quality of shots and play we had. The quality of the attack was very good and the corner kicks were pretty dangerous, we just need to work on some runs on set plays."
Senior Lynzee Lee worked the entire 90 minutes in net, making two saves for the shutout. Meanwhile, there was a pair of freshmen in the Knights' starting lineup as Radovcic and Tiia Tikkanen received spots on the first team.
A Preseason All-Conference USA Team member, senior Yvonne George fired off a team-high six shots, freshman Bianca Joswiak finished with three and seven other Knights had two shots apiece.
Playing three 30-minute periods, UCF got right to work on the offensive side of the ball, taking the first 15 shots of the game. However Rollins keeper Michelle Dillingham turned aside all six shots that were on net in the opening frame, including blasts from both sophomore Stacie Hubbard and freshman Tishia Jewell. George led the way in the first 30 with three attempts.
It was more of the same when the second 30 got underway, and this time the pressure was from Joswiak who cranked a shot off Dillingham from point-blank range, then saw her rebound attempt also be saved.
Now holding a 21-3 edge in shots through two periods, UCF still could not get on the board, and saw a goal by George with under 11 minutes to play be negated by an offside call. But that was when Radovcic stepped up. After sophomore Katie Jackson deflected a ball at the top of the box over to the freshman, Radovcic dribbled around the goalie and raced towards the right endline. On an extreme sharp angle, she placed a perfect shot into the side of the net with 2:12 left on what ended up being the Black and Gold's 29th and final shot.
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