Oct. 22, 2009
By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Still standing by itself in first place in the Conference USA standings, the No. 11 UCF women's soccer team has two more crucial road matches remaining this weekend. The Knights will visit SMU Friday at 8 p.m. ET before traveling to Tulsa Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
The Black and Gold will then complete the regular season at home Friday, Oct. 30, against Southern Miss at 7 p.m.
Holding a 12-3-1 overall record and a 7-1-0 mark in C-USA, the Knights have won six-straight matches. A win over SMU would bring that streak to seven, matching UCF's longest since 2003. Meanwhile it has not posted a winning streak of eight matches or more since it claimed nine-consecutive victories in 2001.
The Knights have had six different players earn C-USA weekly honors this year, including senior Becca Thomas who has won the previous two C-USA Offensive Player of the Week awards. She currently has five goals and five assists for 15 points in 2009, while senior Courtney Whidden continues to lead the way with eight tallies and five helpers for 21 points.
UCF enters the weekend ranked as high as No. 11 in the country and at No. 4 in the important NCAA RPI report.
But just like every C-USA weekend, the Knights' opponents will pose a difficult challenge. SMU stands at 5-9-1 on the year but is 3-2-1 in its last six league games, including victories against UAB, East Carolina and Rice. The Mustangs have been outscored 31-15, however during that six-match stretch the goals have been an even 5-5. In net, Courtney Webb has played all 1,370 minutes, posting a 2.04 goals-against average and three shutouts.
UCF is 4-3-0 all-time vs. SMU, and has won all three matches against the Mustangs since joining C-USA in 2005.
For Tulsa, it carries a 6-8-2 record and also has claimed three wins in its last six outings (Houston, Rice and Marshall). The Golden Hurricane have allowed 247 shots compared to taking 153, but it has been the goalkeeping that has kept them in several matches. Katie Bykowski has notched a 0.97 GAA and an .832 save percentage, recording six shutouts in the process.
The Knights are 3-0-1 in four overall matches with Tulsa, as this will be the third-straight year they will have to travel to Oklahoma to take on the Golden Hurricane.
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.