ORLANDO – The UCF women’s soccer team will take the field for the final time this regular season on Friday when it hosts the Cincinnati Bearcats at the UCF Soccer Complex.
The Big 12 Conference match is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available by visiting UCF.Statbroadcast.com. It will mark the third consecutive home game for the Black and Gold.
The 3-6-5 Knights are coming into the match on the heels of a 2-0 setback to Oklahoma State last Sunday. The result brought the team’s conference record to 1-5-3 and currently in a tie for 13th place in the Big 12 Conference standings.
Sunday’s match saw freshman goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson record five saves and senior Chloe Netzel put up a team-high four shots.
Trailing 2-0, the Black and Gold came out as the aggressors in the early stages of the second half. Honoka Hamano had a chance in the 47th minute but the shot was saved. The Knights also got shots from Annika Huhta, Grace Thao as well as a couple from Netzel down the stretch, but UCF ultimately couldn’t find the back of the net as dropped the conference contest.
Before taking on Oklahoma State, the Knights faced off against No. 8 TCU at home, in which they fell 4-2 in a hard-fought match. Perez Watson recorded seven saves in the game and both Netzel and Guta Franke found the back of the net.
ALL OR NOTHING
The Cincinnati match will be the most important match of UCF’s season as it will have the most on the line. The top 12 teams in the conference standings will qualify for the Sprouts Farmers Market Big 12 Championship. In a tie for 13th place, the Knights are currently just outside of the tournament. With a win on Friday night, the Knights would jump the Bearcats in the standings and punch their ticket to the Big 12 Championship. With a draw or a loss, however, UCF’s season would come to a close.
NETZEL LOOKS TO REMAIN HOT
Senior Chole Netzel will look to finish what has been an incredible regular season on a high note. Netzel leads the Knights in goals (10), points (21), game-winning goals (2), shots (65), and shots on goal (37). She has also recorded a trio of braces on the season and her 10 goals are the most scored for UCF in a season since 2021 when Kristen Scott too tallied 10. Her 10 goals also have her tied for the eighth most goals in the country. Nationally, Netzel is third in shots on goal per game (2.85), sixth in shots per game (5.00), and has the ninth-best goals per game average (0.77).
SPACE GAME/ALUMNI KNIGHT
Friday’s match isn’t just the regular season finally. It will also be a night where the team celebrates the past in multiple ways. It will be the team’s #SpaceU match and as a result the team will be dawning the Citronaut blue. UCF does so to honor the university's strong ties with the space program dating back to the school’s inception in 1963.
The game will also serve as the team’s alumni Knight. The Black and Gold will welcome back several all-time greats, as a number of alums will be in attendance on Friday night.
ABOUT CINCINNATI
Cincinnati currently has a record of 6-8-3 and will enter the match in 12th place in the Big 12 standings with a 2-6-2 conference record. The Bearcats come into Friday’s match on a four-game winless streak. Cincinnati went 4-8-7 last season and 2-3-5 in conference play to finish ninth in the Big 12. The team was picked to finish tied with Kansas for 12th place in the 2024 Big 12 Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
Rylee Felton leads the Bearcats in goals with six and points with 13. Carly, Oubs, Claire Rea and Ellie Flower lead the team in assists with two. Castain, Pena, Grace Coppinge and Camryn Lancaster were named to the Big 12 Preseason Team.
Cincinnati is led by second-year head coach Erica Demers.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. CINCINNATI
Friday’s match will be the 15th meeting between the Knights and the Bearcats. UCF leads the all-time series 7-5-2. The Black and Gold are currently on a two-game winning streak against Cincinnati, with their last win coming in the form of a 1-0 road win last October. The two have faced off against one another in every season since 2013.
FRANKE AND PEREZ WATSON COMPETED AT FROM 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
With a win on Friday night, UCF’s season will continue as it will qualify for the 2024 Sprouts Farmers Market Big 12 Championship. The 12-team conference championship will run Oct. 30-Nov. 9 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. First-round action will get underway with four matches on Wednesday, Oct. 30.