Sept. 16, 2010
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By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF's non-conference schedule wraps up this weekend when the women's soccer team competes in the Arizona Tournament. The Knights will open up play against host Arizona Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET while they also are slated to take on No. 19 Arizona State Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET.
The meeting with ASU will be the third time in eight matches this fall that UCF will have faced a ranked opponent.
The Black and Gold currently sits with a 4-2-0 record having posted victories over two NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago in San Diego State and Harvard, as well as South Florida and VCU. The Knights have received contributions from across its lineup, as Tishia Jewell, Katie Jackson, Bianca Joswiak and Kim Newsome each have scored two goals, while 12 different players have at least one point.
Junior keeper Aline Reis has played in four matches but two of them have been against top-10 teams. She is tied with senior Jaclyn Meade for the team lead with 10 saves.
The Knights will eventually return to Orlando Sept. 24 to kick off Conference USA play vs. East Carolina. They also will take on Marshall Sept. 26 on Bright House Sports Network.
Arizona has started the 2010 campaign with a 2-3-1 record, defeating Tennessee and Cal Poly, playing Northern Arizona to a draw and falling to San Diego, Pepperdine and Nebraska. To get past the Wildcats, UCF will need to pay attention to Arizona's Renae Cuellar, who has scored six goals and added three assists for 15 points. Ashley Jett has seen the majority of the action in net, recording 26 saves and a 1.66 goals-against average.
Friday's contest will mark the first ever match between UCF and Arizona.
Arizona State has opened up 2010 as one of the hottest teams in the country, taking down Northern Arizona, Baylor, Charlotte, Tennessee and Nebraska and earning a draw with South Carolina for a 5-0-1 record. The Sun Devils will play Ohio State Friday before clashing with the Knights. ASU has scored 18 goals this season with Karin Volpe leading the way with seven. And Alyssa Gillmore has notched one shutout in 539:00 minutes of work, totaling 18 saves with a 1.17 GAA.
The Knights and Sun Devils have met only once on the pitch, with ASU coming away with a 2-0 win at the 2006 UNLV Invitational. The two programs actually were sent to the University of Wisconsin for last year's first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament but Wisconsin defeated Arizona State in the first round.