Oct. 6, 2009
By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - From victories over top-10 teams, a national player of the week (Aline Reis) and several appearances in the top-25 polls, UCF's women's soccer team has received plenty of national attention this season. And on Tuesday it earned even more recognition, as the NCAA released its first RPI report of 2009 and the Knights were ranked No. 5 in the country.
The RPI -- Ratings Percentage Index -- is the most important of the criteria the NCAA uses to determine the 64-team field for the NCAA Division I Women's Tournament. The RPI is a mathematical formula designed to objectively compare results and strength of schedule.
"I think what we are proud of the most about the RPI ranking is our strength of schedule," said 11th year head coach Amanda Cromwell. "That shows that we have put together a tough schedule against several teams that are doing very well this year, and we stepped up to the plate and got results in those games. The RPI is a great indicator of that. I think some of the other rankings are more subjective. This is pure and gives a detailed look of what's going on nationwide, such as win-loss record, strength of schedule and opponents' win-loss record.
"When you look at the teams we've played, five of them are in the top 25, and we went 2-2-1 in those matches. The loss to South Carolina and tie against LSU were games we could have won too. But we feel good as a team right now and know that we can play with the best in the country."
The Knights will enter this weekend's action at home with an 8-3-1 overall record and a 3-1-0 mark in Conference USA. They are ranked No. 16 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, while also sit at No. 25 by Soccer Times.
UCF opened 2009 by defeating Florida Gulf Coast Aug. 21. It then fell to No. 1 North Carolina, but rebounded to defeat No. 10 Duke (rankings are from the top-25 polls) the second weekend of the year. The Knights went on to tie LSU and topple FIU in the USF Tournament before knocking off No. 4 Florida State and USF at home. They concluded the non-conference schedule with a 1-0 loss at No. 12 South Carolina in what proved to be the second-toughest non-conference slate in the country (behind only UNC).
When the C-USA campaign began, the Black and Gold split the opening weekend against UAB and Memphis only to sweep a pair of road matches at Marshall and East Carolina.
The Knights now await UTEP which ventures to Orlando Friday at 7 p.m., as well as Colorado College Sunday at noon. The Miners are ranked No. 74 in the RPI while the Tigers stand at No. 39. All three teams are tied atop the C-USA standings.
Admission to all home matches at the UCF Soccer Complex is free.
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.
NCAA RPI Report - Oct. 61. North Carolina*2. Stanford3. Florida State*4. Portland5. UCF6. South Carolina*7. Virginia Tech8. UCLA9. Boston College10. Arizona State14. LSU*25. UAB*28. Memphis*39. Colorado College* (UCF vs. C.C. Sunday in Orlando at 12 p.m.)63. Duke*74. UTEP* (UCF vs. UTEP Friday in Orlando at 7 p.m.)76. USF*82. Florida International*84. Marshall*85. East Carolina*123. Florida Gulf Coast*177. Southern Miss*184. Tulsa*185. SMU*200. Rice*213. Houston** - UCF Opponent