ORLANDO – The UCF women's soccer team welcomes Memphis to the UCF Soccer Complex for the American Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinal at 7 p.m. on Thursday. After an undefeated conference season and a regular season title, the Knights now look to go out in style and win the AAC tournament for just the second time, leaving the American on top.
The Knights have been flawless since drawing with Memphis in both teams' first conference game back in September. The 0-0 score line was just one of two matches where UCF failed to find the back of the net all season, and the only time in conference play. The Tigers are the only team that was able to keep the Knights attack at bay, as the point shared was the only points picked up by an AAC opponent against UCF this season.
The four-seed Tigers hosted five-seed East Carolina in Memphis last Sunday in the first round of the AAC tournament, where both teams battled to overtime until the Tigers eventually found the game-winner in the first half of OT. Mya Jones, whose third in the conference in goals with six and was the team's top scorer, had the crucial goal that advanced the Tigers past a tough Pirates team.
Memphis has a strong attacking presence, having scored 33 goals this season, the most in the AAC. Caroline DeLisle and the UCF backline were the only ones not to concede against the Tigers this season. The Memphis backline on the other hand will be tested again, as since its matchup against the Knights, it's allowed 10 goals in seven matches.
UCF's first-round bye served as a much-needed break, as since its match against Temple on Oct. 6, the squad has played seven games in 22 days, averaging just over three days between matches. The Knights last time out saw a convincing 2-0 win against South Florida in Tampa, who were the reigning regular season champs entering the season.
Wednesday morning, the Knights stellar season was met with individual awards, as Kristen Scott was named AAC Offensive Player of the season after finishing with a conference-best 10 goals and point per game average of 1.91. Scott will leave UCF with her second first-team all-conference nod as she was one of four Knights to receive the honor. Scott, DeLisle who was also named AAC Goalkeeper of the Year and Darya Rajee all garnered their second first-team selection in a row as Dayan Martin joined them in rounding out the Knights. Newcomers Georgia Eaton-Collins received a second-team nod and Mia Asenjo was unanimously named to the all-rookie team.
After the Knights won the AAC for the fourth time in their 10-year stay, they will now look to do what they have only done once before in 2013, their first year in the American, go on and win the conference tournament as well.
UCF and Memphis will kick off following the first semi-final between USF and SMU earlier in the day. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
