ORLANDO – The 2024 UCF women’s soccer season was one filled with many memorable moments. It was a season that saw huge wins, historic performances and the emergence of superstars.
Here are some of the highlights from this past season.
THE KNIGHTS UPSET GEORGIA
In the Knights’ fourth game of the season, which also happened to be Senior Knight, they took on the defending SEC Champion Georgia Bulldogs. At the time, Georgia was ranked No. 24 by the United Soccer Coaches and No. 8 by Top Drawer Soccer. After a 90-minute lightning delay and a ceremony in which six seniors were honored, the Knights would go on to knock off the Bulldogs by earning a 2-0 victory.
Freshman Ella Holloran scored the game-winner in the 41st minute and senior Chloe Netzel added to the score in the 48th minute. Goalkeeper Sami Lipcon earned her first career clean sheet by stopping four shots.
The win marked the Black and Gold’s first regular season win over a ranked opponent since Sept. 5, 2021, when the Knights defeated No. 7 Penn State, 2-1, at home.
CHLOE NETZEL
The biggest highlight of the year was the play of senior Chloe Netzel. In 2024, she emerged as one of the best players in collegiate soccer. In 14 games Netzel recorded 11 goals and 23 points. She led the team in nearly every offensive category, including goals, points, game-winning goals, shots, and shots on goal.
Netzel ended the season leading the Big 12 conference in goals, shots and shots on goal. Nationally, she was also led all of NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer in shots on goal per game with a 3.07 per game average. She also finished fifth nationally in shots per game (5.21), 11th in goals per game (0.79), 18th in points per game (1.64), 32nd in shot accuracy (0.589) and 39th in total goals (11). Netzel also recorded three braces in 2024, scoring two goals on the road against both Florida and Florida Atlantic, as well as at home against Houston.
For her performance, Netzel became the first Knight in program history to earn First Team All-Big 12 honors. She later received United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Women's All-Midwest Region Second Team accolades. The All-Region honor marked the third of her distinguished career.
Chloe Netzel is her! Congrats to Chloe for earning First Team All-Big 12 honors 😍
— UCF Women's Soccer (@UCF_WSoccer) October 29, 2024
📰 https://t.co/0iH0YoO4RM pic.twitter.com/JiswVScenI
PEREZ WATSON’S 14-SAVE GAME
On Oct. 13, the Knights traveled to Boulder, Colorado, to take on a very talented Colorado team. At the time the Buffalos were 10-2-1, one of the top teams in the Big 12 and were receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll. The week before, they were ranked No.14. The Knights meanwhile were about to compete in their fifth consecutive road game.
UCF would end up earning a point in this game by forcing a 0-0 draw. Leading the way for the Black and Gold was goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson, who put on an incredible 14-save performance. This was the first shutout of Perez Watson’s career. Her 14 saves tied her for the seventh-most saves in a single-game in UCF history and is tied for the most saves in a Big 12 game this season.
WEEKLY HONORS
A trio of UCF women’s soccer players earned Big 12 Conference weekly honors on the season in defenders Taylor Jacobson and Jada Silvest and goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson. The redshirt freshman Silvest was tabbed the Big 12 Conference Defender of the Week on Sept. 4 while the senior Jacobson earned the same honor on Sept. 18. The redshirt freshman Perez Watson later earned Big 12 Freshman of the Week accolades on Oct. 16.
Silvest received Big 12 Defender of the Week honors after leading UCF to a 2-0 victory over No. 24 Georgia. Silvest Silvest was a key contributor from the Black and Gold’s backline by starting and playing all 90 minutes. She also helped lead to UCF’s second goal of the match, as she fed a deep pass from near midfield to Netzel at the top of the box for Netzel’s sixth goal of the season in the 48th minute. The assist marked Silvest’s first of the season and the first of her career.
Jacobson was named the Big 12’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week after helping lead UCF to a decisive 5-0 victory over Houston. Jacobson was a key component of the Black and Gold’s backline by helping limit UH’s offense to just two shots on frame in the match. She also scored her first collegiate goal in the match, as she found the back of the net in the 22nd minute to give the Knights a 2-0 advantage at the time. Her teammate Annika Huhta fed a pass into the box off a corner kick and Jacobson was there to drill it home in the lower right corner for the goal.
Perez Watson took home Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Week recognition after helping lead the Knights to a 0-0 draw at Colorado. The redshirt freshman recorded an impressive tally of 14 saves in goal against the Buffaloes, who were receiving votes for the top 25 at the time. Perez Watson was tested early and often in the contest against CU, and the Black and Gold keeper was up for the challenge by stopping every shot that was sent her way. The 14 saves tied for the most by any keeper in the Big 12 this season and also good enough to tie for seventh in the UCF single-game record books.