Sept. 27, 2013
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By Jenna Marina
UCFKnights.com
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ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF women's soccer team's 2-1 win over rival USF on Friday night is one that will go down in the record books.
The Knights' dramatic win in their first American Athletic Conference match was witnessed by a school-record crowd of 2,706, besting the previous mark of 2,141 set in 2010 versus Florida.
The first half proved to be a defensive battle, but UCF's best opportunity came in the 10th minute when Tatiana Coleman received the ball on a breakaway. USF keeper Christiane Endler got a hand on the ball, and UCF junior Jennifer Martin was there to rebound. She chipped it toward the goal, but it hit the crossbar.
UCF head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak lit a fire under her team in the locker room during the break, coaxing a more spirited style of play out of them for the second half.
"We were a little bit vanilla in the first half," she said. "What I was asking them to bring in the second half was more emotion and personality. I'm so happy because they were able to dig deep and bring that. It makes me proud that they were able to switch it up."
UCF (8-2-1) broke through in the 53rd minute thanks to a freshman-to-freshman connection. The American's reigning Rookie of the Week, Lena Petermann, got by Bulls defenders to send a ball to Kayla Adamek, who perfectly timed her run to score her fourth goal of the year.
USF (5-2-3) stayed determined and managed to tie it up in the 73rd minute when Demi Stokes rebounded UCF goalkeeper Lianne Maldonado's deflection off Anezha Blount's original attempt.
After scoring her first-career goal in UCF's last outing, redshirt sophomore Megan Fish came through for the Knights once again four minutes later, scoring her second game-winner in as many matches. Senior Kristina Trujic entered the game and immediately lined up for a corner kick. It connected with Fish's head, as she buried it to the top left corner to put UCF back on top, 2-1.
It marked the first time the Bulls, who rank 12th in the country for goals-against average, allowed an opponent to tally more than one goal in a game all season.
The sky opened up to dump buckets of rain in the final minutes of the contest, but it wasn't enough to dampen the mood of the Knights or the thousands who came to watch them extend their unbeaten streak to seven straight.
"Having a school record crowd means so much to this team," Roberts Sahaydak said. "We get energy from the crowd and we can feel it. It's so great being able to play in front of our students. Hopefully we inspired them enough to want to come back."
The Knights continue their four-match homestand when they welcome UConn on Friday at 7 p.m.