ORLANDO – The UCF women’s soccer team will be back in action on Thursday when the team makes its return to the UCF Soccer Complex to take on the first place and eighth-ranked TCU Horned Frogs.
The Big 12 Conference match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available by visiting UCF.Statbroadcast.com.
The 3-4-5 Knights are coming into the match on the back of a 0-0 draw on the road against Colorado this past Sunday. The draw brought the Black and Gold to 1-3-3 in conference play and currently has them sitting in a tie for 13th in the Big 12 Conference standings. At the conclusion of the regular season, the top 12 teams in the league standings will advance to the 2024 Sprouts Farmers Big 12 Championship.
Sunday’s match saw redshirt freshman goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson record the first solo clean sheet of her career. She made a career-high 14 saves to help the Knights stay with a 10-win Colorado team.
Before taking on Colorado, UCF faced off against Arizona at a neutral site, the Carl Lewis International Complex in Houston, Texas. After being down 2-0 at halftime, the Knights stormed back with two straight goals scored by Honoka Hamano and Chloe Netzel. Unfortunately, a late goal for Arizona via a penalty kick prevented the knights from earning a draw.
FINALLY BACK HOME
Thursday’s match will see the Knights play in Orlando for the first time since they played Arizona State to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 22. UCF has played five consecutive matches away from home. This was originally only supposed to be three straight matches against Kansas (Sept. 26), Kansas State (Sept. 29) and West Virginia (Oct. 4). However, due to Hurricane Milton, the Black and Gold moved their scheduled home match against Arizona (Oct. 10) to a neutral site in Houston. Following that match, they then traveled to Colorado (Oct. 13) for their final conference road match of the season.
Thursday’s match against the Horned Frogs will mark the first of three straight home matches to end the regular season.
NETZEL’S HOT START
Senior Chloe Netzel will look to continue her hot start to the season. Netzel leads the Knights in goals (9), points (19), game-winning goals (2), shots (59), and shots on goal (34). She has also recorded a trio of braces on the season. Her nine goals have her tied for eighth most goals in the country. Nationally, Netzel leads the nation in shots on goal per game (3.09), is fourth in shots per game (5.36), and has the ninth best goals per game average (0.82).
PEREZ WATSON TABBED BIG 12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
UCF redshirt freshman goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson was named the Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Week on Wednesday following a 14-save performance at Colorado last Sunday. Perez Watson was key in leading the Knights to a 0-0 draw at CU by recording an impressive tally of 14 saves. The 14 saves tie for the most by any keeper in the Big 12 this season and good enough to tie for seventh in the UCF single-game record books. The shutout also marked Perez Watson’s first solo collegiate clean sheet.
ABOUT TCU
TCU currently has a record of 11-2-2 and sits atop the Big 12 standings with a 6-0-2 conference record. They are currently ranked No. 8 in the United Soccer Coaches’ rankings. The Horned Frogs come into the match with a nine-game unbeaten streak, a streak which included a 6-1 road win over a then-No.14 ranked Colorado team and followed that up with a 3-1 win over West Virginia and a 5-1 victory over Arizona State.
TCU went 10-6-3 last season and 6-2-2 in conference play to finish third in the Big 12. The team was picked to finish third in the 2024 Big 12 Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
Seven Castain leads the Horned Frogs in goals with nine and points with 21. Oli Pena paces the team in assists with eight. Castain, Pena, Grace Coppinge and Camryn Lancaster were named to the Big 12 Preseason Team.
The Horned Frogs are led by 13th-year head coach Eric Bell.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. TCU
Thursday’s match will be the third meeting between the Knights and the Horned Frogs. UCF has won both matchups in the all-time series, with their last win coming last season when they earned a 3-2 upset win over TCU in the first round of the Big 12 Championship.
LAST TIME UCF HOSTED A TOP 10 TEAM
The last time the Black and Gold hosted a top 10 ranked team was on Oct. 12, 2023, when they recorded a 1-1 draw with No. 6 Texas Tech. The last time the Knights defeated a top 10 team was Sept. 5, 2021, when the No. 18 Knights defeated No. 7 Penn State in a tight 2-1 contest.
FRANKE AND PEREZ WATSON COMPETED AT 2024 FIFA U20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
UCF had a pair of players represent their home nations at the 2024 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup that ran Aug. 31-Sept. 22 in Colombia. Freshman defender Guta Franke played for her home country of Brazil, while redshirt freshman goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson participated for Costa Rica. Franke started all five games for Brazil and helped her home nation go 4-1 and advance to the quarterfinal round, while Perez Watson started all three matches in goal and was a captain for Costa Rica.
UP NEXT FOR UCF
Following Thursday’s action, UCF will continue the three-match homestand against Oklahoma State on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. The Knights will then conclude their regular season by hosting Cincinnati on Friday, Oct. 25 at 6 p.m. for the Space Game and Alumni Knight.