Women’s Soccer Concludes Trip with Scoreless Draw at ColoradoWomen’s Soccer Concludes Trip with Scoreless Draw at Colorado

Women’s Soccer Concludes Trip with Scoreless Draw at Colorado

by James Warnick
Box Score

BOULDER, Colo. – Behind strong play from keeper Genesis Perez Watson and the Black and Gold backline, the UCF women’s soccer team concluded a lengthy road trip with a 0-0 draw at Colorado on Sunday afternoon at Prentup Field in Boulder.

Perez Watson made a season and career-high 14 saves en route to helping the Knights move to 3-4-5 overall and earn a point in Big 12 play as they up their league record to 1-3-3. Colorado, who is currently receiving votes for this week’s United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll and ranked as high as 14th in the nation a week ago, moves to 10-2-3 overall and 4-1-3 in conference play with the result.

“I’m proud of our team for earning a point on the road after a long week away. It was a hard-fought match, and I was especially pleased with our defensive effort, particularly in the box. Our goalkeeper’s shutout performance was key to the result,” head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak said.

The redshirt freshman Perez Watson had a strong first half for the Knights in goal, as she recorded seven saves in the opening 45 minutes of action to keep the game scoreless at the break. With Colorado having been awarded a penalty kick in the box in the seventh minute, Perez Watson made a fantastic save on a full extension dive to her right to stop the PK attempt from CU’s Michaela Rosenbaum. Her PK save was followed by a team save from Taylor Jacobson just moments later. Perez Watson made another stellar save in the 10th minute and followed that up with a few others throughout the half.

The Knights had their best chance to score in the first half in the 18th minute. Mia Asenjo received a pass in the center of the box and blasted a shot, but CU’s Jordan Nytes was able to reach up for the save. The Knights had another good look in the 27th minute as Honoka Hamano found a streaking Chloe Netzel in the box but Netzel’s shot went just high.

In the second half, Perez Watson continued her strong play in goal with seven more saves in the final stanza.

Both teams worked hard to find the back of the net in the final 10 minutes. In the 83rd minute, CU’s Juliauna Hayward fired a shot from the right side of the box, but it went just wide left. UCF’s Netzel got off a pair of shots a minute later but the first was blocked and the second was saved by CU’s Nytes. After a Colorado shot went high in the 85th minute, Asenjo had one of her own sail just high in the 87th minute.

The Buffaloes got off a couple of more shots in the closing minutes, but Perez Watson was there to save each attempt and help end the match in a scoreless tie.

The 14 saves from Perez Watson ties for the most saves of any Big 12 keeper on the season. Houston’s Olivia Dietrich also had a 14-save game against UTSA in non-conference action on Aug. 29. The 14 save performance from Perez Watson also ties for the seventh-most saves in program history.

Sunday’s contest marked the conclusion of five consecutive games away from home for the Knights as well as UCF’s final regular season road match. It also marked the first all-time meeting between the Knights and Buffaloes on the pitch.

The Black and Gold will now return home for their final three contests of the regular season. UCF will start the three-game home stand by welcoming No. 12 TCU to town on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Knights will also host Oklahoma State (Oct. 20) and Cincinnati (Oct. 25) during the stretch.

“We’re excited to return home, where we’re confident and ready to close out the conference season with our style of play,” Roberts Sahaydak concluded.