ORLANDO – Following a 1-1 draw on Sunday at Houston that sees them unbeaten in six straight contests, the UCF women’s soccer team will play host to the No. 16/10 Baylor Bears on Thursday night at the UCF Soccer Complex.
UCF will also celebrate Senior Knight, where it will honor a six-member senior class in a ceremony prior to kickoff. Seniors Haylee Mersereau, Kayla Chatman-Haggerty, Rajanah Reed, Liz Worden, Hannah Boughton, and Payton Patrick will be recognized.
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.
The Knights have earned a 9-2-4 record through 15 games, as well as a 3-1-4 Big 12 tab that sees them in a tie for sixth place in the league table. The top eight teams in the conference will qualify for the 2025 Big 12 Soccer Tournament presented by Allstate that will be held Nov. 3-8 at TCU and Baylor.
UCF looked to build on the back of its 2-1 victory over Oklahoma State when it kicked off proceedings at the Carl Lewis International Complex on Sunday afternoon.
Only 11 minutes into the match, Worden had two shots blocked within two minutes as the Knights searched for an opener. She received the ricochet off of her second effort, and after skillfully dribbling past a Houston defender, set the ball for Reed to strike it. As her attempt traveled towards goal, Honoka Hamano was there to divert it past Houston’s keeper to open the score, as she found her fourth goal of the campaign. The goal also marked Worden’s team-leading seventh assist of the year and Reed’s first.
13' | Worden ➡️ Reed ➡️ Hamano❗
— UCF Women's Soccer (@UCF_WSoccer) October 19, 2025
UCF 1, UH 0 pic.twitter.com/b463ApWG8d
In the second half, Houston evened the scales in the 52nd minute with Samira Minor’s goal from distance, forcing the Black and Gold back to square one.
UCF continued to apply pressure throughout the match with Ainsley Moy’s two shots on target, while also out shooting Houston 4-3 and conceding zero corner kicks or saves.
With the contest ending in a draw, the Knights settled for a point. Sunday’s matinee marked the sixth game in a row unbeaten for the Black and Gold.
SEASON LEADERS
Rajanah Reed and Liz Worden both got on the scoresheet last Thursday against Oklahoma State to continue to pace the squad in goals with five each. Honoka Hamano’s poked finish against Houston puts her in the lone third place spot on four goals. Gabi Berchon is next with three, while Ainsley Moy follows not far behind with two, and Tyra Eriksen, Ella Holloran, and Edidiong Etim have one goal apiece. Worden also tops the assist charts with seven, and the points charts with 17, as well as leading the team in total shots with 44. Reed continues to lead the shots on goal tally with 22 to her name.
With her sixth clean sheet of the season from her four saves at Cincinnati, goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson now totals 47 saves and an impressive .825 save percentage. She has also played all 1350 minutes of the season for UCF.
UNBEATEN IN SIX STRAIGHT
The Knights will enter the week unbeaten in their last six games. UCF’s last loss came on Sept. 25 at Arizona. Over the course of the last six contests, the Black and Gold recorded back-to-back victories over No. 17 Arizona State (3-2) and Utah (2-0) before picking up consecutive 0-0 draws versus Kansas State and Cincinnati. UCF pulled out a 2-1 win at Oklahoma State last Thursday before drawing 1-1 at Houston on Sunday.
In all, the Knights hold just two losses on the year as they previously suffered a 1-0 setback to in-state foe FIU on Sept. 4. With a 9-2-4 overall record, the Black and Gold enter the weekend rated 38th nationally in the latest RPI and in a tie for sixth place in the Big 12 standings with a 3-1-4 clip and 13 points.
ABOUT BAYLOR
Ranked 16th by the United Soccer Coaches and 10th by Top Drawer Soccer, the Baylor Bears (11-2-2, 6-2-0 Big 12) will travel to Orlando looking to spark another winning streak after defeating Utah 2-0 last Sunday, following a 3-0 loss at No. 14 TCU on the previous Thursday. The Bears have been almost flawless this season, only dropping points against Texas A&M (1-1), Denver (0-0), Texas Tech (0-1), and No. 14 TCU (0-3). Baylor has prevailed in the 11 other matches it has played in 2025, with notable victories including a 2-0 shutout over then-No. 17 Mississippi State and a 3-0 shutout over then-No. 14 Kansas. BU currently holds the No. 4 RPI in the nation.
Baylor was picked to finish 10th in the Big 12 this year after going 8-8-5 and placing 10th in the 2024 conference standings following a 2-5-4 finish. Its 2024 season ended in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament, falling 2-1 to Texas Tech after defeating Arizona 2-1 in the opening round.
The Bears are led by 2025 Big 12 Preseason Team forward Tyler Isgrig, whose 20 points from seven goals and six assists pace her squad in all three categories. She has won two Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors this year for her performances in weeks five and nine. Midfielder Aryanna Jimison is not far behind Isgrig with four goals, five assists, and 13 points. She also took home a Big 12 weekly award for her two-goal, two-assist performance in matches against Iowa State and Colorado during week eight.
Goalkeeper Azul Alvarez has played 15 out of 16 games in net for the Bears while posting 44 saves, which is good for fifth in the Big 12. Her eight shutouts are tied for first in the Big 12 with Kansas State’s Maddie Sibbing and Texas Tech’s Faith Nguyen. Her 3.67 saves per game place her in fifth place in the conference. Alvarez has a .859 save percentage through 15 games, which places her on top of the Big 12. She has earned two Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Week Awards this year, one for her shutouts against Denver (0–0) and Montana (2-0) in week two, and the other for her two shutouts against then-no. 14 Kansas (3-0) and Kansas State (3-0) in week seven.
Baylor is coached by fourth-year head coach Michelle Lenard, who has taken her team to the Big 12 Conference Tournament twice in her last two years with the Bears.
SERIES HISTORY VS. BAYLOR
Thursday’s matchup will be only the second all-time meeting between UCF and Baylor. The sides’ first meeting was two seasons ago on Oct. 8, 2023, at the UCF Soccer Complex, with the Bears taking the result 2-1 despite a goal from former Knight Chloe Netzel in the contest.
GENESIS PEREZ WATSON’S STELLAR START
UCF goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson has had an impressive season so far, commanding a back line that has only conceded 10 goals, or 0.67 per game. Perez Watson’s six clean sheets bests her two from 2024, and she has set career highs in save percentage (.825) and goals against average (.667). Her 47 total saves see her in sixth place in the Big 12 Conference standings.
After recording a pair of clean sheets against Utah and Kansas State recently, Perez Watson also took home Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week and Big 12 Conference Goalkeeper of the Week honors.
SILVEST AND ERIKSEN RANKED IN TOP DRAWER SOCCER MIDSEASON TOP 100
Redshirt sophomore defender Jada Silvest has been included in Top Drawer Soccer’s Women’s Midseason Top 100 Players list, taking the 80th spot, while freshman forward Tyra Eriksen was included as No. 58 on Top Drawer Soccer’s Midseason Top Freshmen.
Silvest has been an instrumental player for the Black and Gold this season, playing 90 minutes in all but two contests, in which she featured for at least 80 minutes in both. Silvest has been a key contributor to the Knights’ six clean sheets in 2025, and she also recorded a pair of assists on the season.
Eriksen, a true freshman from Sweden, has had a strong season for the Knights in which she has scored one goal and also recorded a pair of assists so far during her debut season at the college level. She has tallied a total of 14 shots with four shots coming on target on the year. The striker has played in all 15 matches with 11 starts for the Black and Gold.
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 22-10 on the season and after each netting a goal against Oklahoma State last Thursday, Rajanah Reed and Liz Worden pace the squad with five each. Honoka Hamano is right behind them with four after scoring the Knights’ lone goal in the 1-1 draw with Houston last Sunday. Worden continues to front the team in assists (7), points (17), and shots (44). Reed leads the way with her 15 shots on goal.
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.
UP NEXT FOR UCF
Following Senior Knight, UCF will prepare to host BYU in its 2025 home finale on Monday, Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. The Knights will then close the regular season on the road at No. 5/3 Texas Tech on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. ET. With a finish in the top eight of the Big 12 standings, the squad will then travel to TCU’s Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium to kick off the Big 12 Soccer Tournament presented by Allstate on Monday, Nov. 3.
