ORLANDO – In the first meeting between the UCF and Baylor women’s soccer teams, UCF was defeated 2-1 Sunday afternoon at the UCF Soccer Complex. The Knights were hit with another late-goal loss after Baylor took the lead with eight minutes left on the clock.
The Bears came out aggressively, taking four shots in the opening minutes of play, scoring in the 13th minute. However, the Knights retailed quickly, with Chloe Netzel scoring her fifth goal of the season in the 16th minute with help from Dayana Martin. A deflection off a Baylor pass from Martin set Netzel up perfectly to send the ball into the bottom right of the net, leveling the score at one.
The remainder of the first 45 minutes was back-and-forth, with the Knights and the Bears taking six and seven shots, respectively. Six of Baylor’s shots ended up on target, compared to three from UCF.
Baylor came out stronger in the second half, holding possession for a majority of the last 45 minutes. The Knights continued to get good looks when they had possession but were unable to find the back of the net again. Martin and Netzel almost connected to give the Knights an advantage in the 50th minute, but the shot from Martin went just wide of the Baylor goalkeeper.
All signs were pointing to a 1-1 draw until the 82nd minute when Baylor earned its seventh corner kick of the afternoon. Theresa McCullough took the corner as usual, and Hallie Augustyn got her leg on it at just the right angle to send it past Caroline DeLisle to put the Bears up with just eight minutes remaining.
The Knights battled hard in the remaining minutes of play but were unable to create any magic to force a draw. The 2-1 loss was the first time this season that the Black and Gold have dropped back-to-back matches, as well as the first time since Sept. 11, 2022.
UP NEXT
The Knights will play at the UCF Soccer Complex on Thursday night for one final home match this season, hosting No. 7 Texas Tech. Senior Knight festivities will take place before kickoff at 6:00 p.m.
