Women’s Soccer to Open Big 12 Play Thursday vs. West VirginiaWomen’s Soccer to Open Big 12 Play Thursday vs. West Virginia

Women’s Soccer to Open Big 12 Play Thursday vs. West Virginia

by James Warnick

ORLANDO – Fresh off a solid start to the season through non-conference play, the UCF women’s soccer team will now turn its attention to league play as it will open its Big 12 Conference slate on Thursday night at the UCF Soccer Complex against West Virginia.

Thursday’s conference opener is set to begin at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+. Live stats will also be available for the contest by visiting UCF.StatBroadcast.com.

The Knights will enter the game with a 6-1-0 mark. The 6-1 record marks the Black and Gold’s best start to a season since 2002. At 6-1, UCF will enter its third season of Big 12 play currently tied for third place in the league standings.

After opening with five straight wins, UCF then suffered its lone setback of the season to in-state foe FIU on Sept. 4. The Knights then responded by shutting out fellow Sunshine State opponent North Florida, 2-0, on the road last Thursday in the Black and Gold’s final out of conference contest of the campaign.

With the UNF match still scoreless early in the second half, Honoka Hamano found the back of the net for UCF in the 55th minute and Ainsley Moy followed by converting on a penalty kick in the 73rd minute to help the Knights put the match away.

With the Black and Gold on the attack, Kalena Bellini fed a pass to Hamano outside of the box. The midfielder fired a deep strike and drilled it into the upper right corner with her right foot to give the Knights a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute.

The sophomore Moy later drove into the box and drew a foul. After a yellow card was called on UNF’s Sarah Frazer, UCF was awarded a penalty kick in the center of the box. Moy managed to slot a shot past a diving attempt from the keeper on the left side of the goal to make it 2-nil.

Genesis Perez Watson recorded her second shutout of the season in goal for the Black and Gold to move to 6-1-0. She finished with a pair of saves in the contest.

The Knights dominated offensively by outshooting the Ospreys 17-4 as well as 10-2 in shots on goal. Rajanah Reed led the way with career highs of six shots and four shots on frame.

Thursday’s Big 12 opener will mark the first of 11 conference matches on the season for the Black and Gold.

SEASON LEADERS
Rajanah Reed leads the Black and Gold with three goals on the season. She also leads the team in shots on goal with 12 and is second on total shots with 22. Liz Worden, Gabi Berchon, Honoka Hamano and Ainsley Moy are next with a pair of goals apiece. Worden also fronts the team in assists with four, points with eight, and shots with 23. Genesis Perez Watson leads the way in goal with 22 saves and an .815 save percentage. She has also played all 630 minutes on the year.

CONFERENCE OPENERS UNDER ROBERTS SAHAYDAK
The Knights will enter Thursday with an 8-2-2 record in conference openers under head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak and a 9-3-0 clip in home conference openers. UCF is also a perfect 2-0 in home conference openers in Big 12 play, as it defeated West Viginia 4-2 in the program’s inaugural Big 12 match on Sept. 14, 2023, at the UCF Soccer Complex and followed that up with a 5-0 shutout win over Houston in the league opener last year.

ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA
The Mountaineers will come to Orlando with a 5-2-0 record on the season and having won four straight matches. WVU’s only losses on the year have come to ranked foes, as they fell to then-No. 15 Virginia and No. 14 Penn State early in the season. West Virginia has since defeated Duquesne, Dayton, Army and Marshall. The Mountaineers were picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 this year after going 12-5-3 and placing third in the conference standings a season ago with an 8-2-1 clip. WVU has made the NCAA Tournament in 23 of the last 25 seasons.

A trio of Mountaineers are tied atop the team with three goals scored apiece in Taylor White, Maddie Levy and Abbey Olexa. White also paces the squad in assists with four, points with 10, and shots on goal with eight. Levy fronts the team in total shots with 16. Bailey Herfurth leads WVU in goal with seven saves and an unblemished 4-0-0 record. Senior forward Ajanae Respass earned Preseason All-Big 12 honors prior to the season.

West Virginia is coached by head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. Izzo-Brown is in her 30th season at the helm of WVU women’s soccer and has recorded over 400 career victories.

SERIES HISTORY VS. WVU
Thursday's match will mark the fifth all-time meeting between the Knights and Mountaineers. WVU will enter with a 3-1-0 all-time series advantage. UCF picked up its lone win in series history in its inaugural Big 12 Conference game that came on Sept. 12, 2023, in a 4-2 victory over WVU at the UCF Soccer Complex. The Mountaineers then returned the favor with a 1-0 victory in Morgantown last year.

BEST START AT THE DI LEVEL
The Knights began the 2025 season with an unblemished 5-0-0 start. The 5-0 record marked the Black and Gold’s best start to a season in program history at the NCAA Division I level and the best since the program's inaugural season of competition in 1981 when UCF opened a perfect 7-0. 

UCF opened the year with a 2-1 victory on the road at UAB and followed it up with a trio of home wins over Florida Atlantic (3-1), South Florida (4-1) and LSU (2-1). The Knights then defeated their second straight SEC foe on Aug. 28 with a 1-0 shutout victory at Florida. 

UCF has outscored the opposition 12-5 on the season and after scoring the game winner in the 87th minute at Florida on Aug. 28, Rajanah Reed leads the way with three goals. Liz Worden and Gabi Berchon are right behind her with a pair of goals apiece. Worden fronts the team in assists with four, as well as points (8), shots (20) and shots on goal (9).

Now at 6-1-0, the record marks the Knights' best start to a season since 2002. A win on Thursday would move the Black and Gold to 7-1-0, which would mark UCF's best start to a season since 1982 when the team opened 6-0-2 through eight games for the same .875 winning percentage.

4-1 AGAINST SUNSHINE STATE FOES
The Knights capped non-conference play with a solid 4-1-0 record against Sunshine State foes on the season.

The Black and Gold first pulled out back-to-back home wins over Florida Atlantic (3-1) and South Florida (4-1), before shutting out the Florida Gators on the road by a score of 1-0. UCF then suffered a 1-0 setback in its first loss of the season to FIU at home on Sept. 4, but responded with a 2-0 victory at North Florida in the Black and Gold's non-conference finale on Sept. 11.

LATE GAME MAGIC
UCF has scored a pair of game-winning goals with the clock winding down against SEC foes on the season.

All deadlocked at 1-1 and less than 30 seconds to play against SEC foe LSU, the Knights found themself in a goal line scramble. Gabi Berchon took a shot from the center of the box with 17 seconds to go but LSU’s keeper was there to make the save. The ball then bounced over to Tyra Eriksen and she got off another shot that was again saved, but the ball deflected to Berchon right in front of the goal and she was able to slot it home for the dramatic game winner with just 11 seconds on the clock.

Scoreless at Florida just days later and in the 87th minute, Guta Franke fed a deep pass over the top to Liz Worden. Worden then deflected it ahead to Reed on the right side of the box and the senior forward was able to drill a late strike into the back of the net to propel UCF to another thrilling victory.

BERCHON TABBED BIG 12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
UCF redshirt freshman midfielder Gabi Berchon was named the Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Week following a standout performance that included her first collegiate brace and a dramatic game-winning goal against LSU.

The Porto Alegre, Brazil native helped give UCF an early lead in the match, as she found the back of the net on an assist from Honoka Hamano in the fifth minute. With the game all knotted up at 1-1 and under 30 seconds remaining in the match, Rajanah Reed fed a cross into the box and Berchon fired a shot from the center of the box with 17 seconds to go but LSU’s keeper was there to make the save. The ball then bounced over to Tyra Eriksen and she got off another shot that was again saved, but the ball deflected to Berchon right in front of the goal and she was able to slot it home with 11 seconds remaining for the dramatic game winner. The weekly conference honor marked UCF's first of the year and also the first of the career for Berchon.

UP NEXT FOR UCF
The Knights will continue Big 12 play by hitting the road next week for a trip to the Grand Canyon State for matches at Arizona and Arizona State. UCF will first face the Wildcats in Tucson on Thursday, Sept. 25 for a 10 p.m. ET start, before capping the trip in Tempe against the Sun Devils on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 4 p.m. ET.