Sept. 9, 2010
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By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - With three-straight victories over San Diego State, South Florida and VCU, the UCF women's soccer team hopes to carry that momentum into Friday's match when it hosts 2009 Ivy League champion Harvard at 7 p.m. The Knights will then have another difficult test two days later when they travel to Tallahassee to meet No. 8 Florida State Sunday at 1 p.m.
Holding a 3-1-0 overall record, UCF's meeting with Harvard will be the final home non-conference match on the 2010 fall schedule. Meanwhile, the Black and Gold has four non-conference games left before the Conference USA slate begins, as it also travels West next weekend to meet Arizona and No. 24 Arizona State in the Arizona Tournament Sept. 17-19.
UCF has outscored its opponents 7-3 in four matches this year, with six different Knights hitting the back of the net including sophomore Tishia Jewell who has two goals and two assists for a team-high six points. In net, senior Jaclyn Meade has a 2-0-0 record with a shutout, while junior Aline Reis also has a shutout in two starts.
For the season, UCF has consistently used five freshmen highlighted by defender Ashley Nicol who has started all four contests and Kristina Trujic who scored her first-collegiate goal in a 4-1 triumph vs. VCU.
Ranked sixth in the Mid-Atlantic region, Harvard stands at 1-0-1 in 2010 with a season-opening 2-2 tie with Long Island and a 2-0 win at New Hampshire. In the draw with LIU, the Crimson led 2-0 before giving up two late goals in the second half. Alexandra Millet has played all 200 minutes in goal and boasts a 0.90 goals-against average.
UCF and Harvard have only met once on the pitch, and it was a 2-0 Knights victory during their inaugural season in 1981.
Florida State kicked off this year with three-straight shutouts (Washington State, Gonzaga, Stetson) before dropping a 3-2 overtime decision at Auburn. FSU bounced back to post another shutout at Mercer to bring a 4-1-0 record into the weekend where it first hosts Florida Friday. The Seminole offense has exploded for 14 goals this year and is paced by Tori Huster and Janice Cayman who each have three. Kelsey Wys has made all five starts in net and has a 0.59 GAA with 19 saves.
The rivalry with FSU has been very intense the last few seasons as the Knights are 2-3-1 dating back to 2004's 3-2 UCF win in Tallahassee (FSU leads overall 7-3-1). Last year, Courtney Whidden's overtime game-winner gave the Black and Gold a 1-0 triumph over the Seminoles at the UCF Soccer Complex.