ORLANDO – After capping its Arizona road trip by topping No. 17 Arizona State 3-2, the UCF women’s soccer team returns home to host the Utah Utes on Thursday at the UCF Soccer Complex.
The match will begin at 7 p.m. and will air live on ESPN+. Live stats can also be followed by visiting UCF.StatBroadcast.com.
UCF will enter the Big 12 contest with an overall 7-2-1 record, and an all-square 1-1-1 Big 12 Conference mark that ties Arizona State and Houston for seventh place.
Following a 1-0 setback at Arizona, the Knights bounced back by outlasting No. 17 Arizona State 3-2 on Sunday in Tempe.
Senior Liz Worden got the Knights on the board in the 20th minute by taking a pass from Honoka Hamano outside the top of the box and firing a strike into the back of the net. The goal marked Worden’s third of the season and gave UCF a 1-0 advantage into the break.
After the Sun Devils tied things up in the 52nd minute, the Black and Gold immediately answered with a goal two minutes later to take a 2-1 advantage. ASU committed a foul just outside the box on the left side and Gabi Berchon helped the Knights regain the lead by drilling a shot home off the free kick. The goal also marked Berchon’s third of the year to tie with Worden for the second-most on the team.
The Knights then made it 3-1 in the 70th minute when Worden crossed a ball from the right corner into the center of the box and the Arizona native Rajanah Reed was there to head it past ASU’s keeper. The goal marked Reed’s team-leading fourth of the season.
70' | Worden finds Reed for the goal 🙂↕️
— UCF Women's Soccer (@UCF_WSoccer) September 28, 2025
UCF 3, ASU 1 pic.twitter.com/GNU6NcjAc2
Arizona State got a goal back in the 76th minute to make it 3-2 and threatened to even the score down the stretch, but UCF keeper Genesis Perez Watson and the Black and Gold defense were able to withstand the attack to record the victory.
The victory over ASU marked UCF’s first win over a ranked opponent since it blanked No. 24/8 Georgia on Sept. 1 a season ago at the UCF Soccer Complex. It also marked the Knights’ first win over a ranked conference opponent since Oct. 31, 2019, when they defeated No. 24 South Florida.
SEASON LEADERS
Striker Rajanah Reed added to her team-leading goal tally on Sunday when she headed in her fourth score of the year. Liz Worden follows close behind with three goals and is joined by Gabi Berchon. Reed’s 15 shots on goal lead the Knights, followed by Worden’s 11. The latter’s 11 points and five assists continue to pace the squad.
Goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson made three saves on Sunday, bringing her season total to 29 saves and a save percentage of .784. She has played all 900 minutes of the season for UCF.
FIRST-TIME OPPONENTS UNDER ROBERTS SAHAYDAK
The Black and Gold will step onto the pitch Thursday with a 10-4-5 record in matches against programs that UCF has never met before under head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak. At home, the Knights are 4-3-2 against new foes, last adding to that record when they fell to Baylor 2-1 in Big 12 play in 2023. The last time that UCF claimed victory in its first meeting with a new opponent was on Sept. 6, 2015, when it defeated Oklahoma State 2-1 at the UCF Soccer Complex.
ABOUT UTAH
The Utes (5-4-3, 0-1-2 Big 12) will come to Orlando for the first time on the backs of two straight draws against Cincinnati (0-0) and West Virginia (1-1). The Beehive State side opened its Big 12 Conference slate falling to TCU 1-0, after three wins out of five against NC State (3-0), Washington (1-0), and Utah Tech (2-1).
Utah was picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 this year after going 8-6-5 and securing eighth place in the 2024 conference standings following a 5-3-3 finish. Their 2024 season ended in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament, falling 2-1 to Colorado in the first round. Utah has made eight NCAA Tournament appearances, most recently in 2019. Five of the Utes’ appearances came consecutively between 2002-2006.
Midfielder Lilliah Blum and forward Kelly Bullock headline the Utah squad with eight points apiece. Blum’s four goals are the most this season by a Utah player, followed by Bullock’s three. The Utes have a playmaker in midfielder Grace Watkins, whose five assists lead the team, in addition to securing fourth place in the Big 12 assist charts, tied with four other players.
Goalkeeper Erin Gibbs has primarily played in net, posting 27 saves and a .711 save percentage.
Utah is coached by fifth-year head coach Hideki Nakada, who qualified his team to the Big 12 Tournament in the team’s first year in the new league last season.
SERIES HISTORY VS. UTAH
Thursday’s contest will mark the first-ever match between UCF and Utah. The Knights enter the match looking for their first win against a school from the Beehive State, having posted 0-2-2 record in matches against BYU and Utah Valley.
BEST START AT THE D1 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 17-8 on the season and after scoring the game winner in the 70th minute at Arizona State last Sunday, Rajanah Reed leads the way with four goals. Liz Worden and Gabi Berchon are right behind her with three, and Worden fronts the team in assists (5) and points (11). Reed leads the way with shots (31) and shots on goal (15).
Now at 7-2-1, the record marks the Knights' best start to a season since 2017 when the team opened with an 8-1-1 record through 10 games.
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
UCF will remain home at the UCF Soccer Complex as it hosts Kansas State on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 1:00 p.m., celebrating Alumni Weekend. The Knights will then travel to Ohio to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 12:00 p.m.
Back in Knight Territory ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/rp0tklBGl6
— UCF Women's Soccer (@UCF_WSoccer) September 30, 2025