ORLANDO – Fresh off a 2-1 victory over No. 10 Baylor on Thursday, the UCF women’s soccer team will welcome BYU to town for its final home game of the 2025 season on Monday afternoon.
Monday’s home finale is set for a 1 p.m. start at the UCF Soccer Complex. The contest will air live on ESPN+, and live stats will be available by visiting UCF.StatBroadcast.com.
The Knights (10-2-4, 4-1-4 Big 12) will enter Monday unbeaten over its last seven games and looking to secure a spot for the 2025 Big 12 Soccer Tournament presented by Allstate. UCF is currently tied for sixth place in the league standings. The top eight teams will qualify for the conference tournament. The Black and Gold can secure a spot in the Big 12 Tournament with a win or a draw against BYU on Monday. The Knights can also lock up a spot if Arizona State and Houton go winless on Sunday.
UCF pulled out a 2-1 victory over No. 10 Baylor on Thursday night to improve to 2-0 on the season against ranked opponents. The Knights moved to 4-0-3 over their last seven games with the result.
After withstanding an early flurry of shots from the Bears, the Knights opened the scoring in the 38th minute. Liz Worden played a corner kick to Honoka Hamano and Hamano crossed it into the box to the far post for Jada Silvest. The UCF center back was there to drill the ball into the back of the net for her first collegiate goal.
38' | Jada with the finish 🔥
— UCF Women's Soccer (@UCF_WSoccer) October 23, 2025
UCF 1, BU 0 pic.twitter.com/YLxhuDnkXC
The Black and Gold then extended the lead to 2-0 in the 57th minute. Captain Maria Tregansin head the ball near midfield to Rajanah Reed and the speedster Reed beat the Bear defense down the field and finished it off with a strike from the top of the box over BU’s Azul Alvarez. The goal marked Reed’s team-leading sixth of the season.
Rajanah Reed secures the W‼️#NCAASoccer x 🎥 ESPN+ / @UCF_WSoccer pic.twitter.com/YZg3kHJKvq
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) October 24, 2025
Baylor responded by getting a goal back in the 58th minute from Tyler Isgrig to cut the deficit in half, but the UCF defense and keeper Genesis Perez Watson managed to hold strong down the stretch to record the victory. Perez Watson matched a season-high with seven saves in the game.
Baylor was ranked fourth nationally in the RPI, 10th by Top Drawer Soccer, and 16th by the United Soccer Coaches.
The contest marked Senior Knight for UCF, as six Black and Gold seniors—Hannah Boughton, Kayla Chatman-Haggerty, Haylee Mersereau, Payton Patrick, Reed and Worden—were honored prior to the contest.
SEASON LEADERS
With her game-winning goal on Thursday against Baylor, Rajanah Reed now leads the Knights with six goals on the season. Liz Worden is right behind her with five. 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 eight, and the points charts with 18, as well as leading the team in total shots with 48. Reed continues to lead the shots on goal tally with 24 to her name.
With her sixth clean sheet of the season and seven more saves against Baylor, goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson now totals 54 saves and an impressive .831 save percentage. She has also played all 1440 minutes of the season for UCF.
UNBEATEN IN SEVEN STRAIGHT
The Knights will enter Monday’s home finale unbeaten in their last seven games. UCF’s last loss came on Sept. 25 at Arizona. Over the course of the last seven 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. The Black and Gold most recently defeated No. 10 Baylor, 2-1, at home on Thursday.
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 Monday ranked 32nd nationally in the latest RPI and in a tie for sixth place in the Big 12 standings with a 4-1-4 clip and 16 points.
ABOUT BYU
The Cougars will come to Orlando with an 8-5-3 overall record and currently in a tie for eighth place in the Big 12 standings with a 3-4-2 conference clip. BYU most recently fell to Kansas by a score of 3-1 in its home finale on Thursday night. Prior to that Brigham Young notched a 2-2 draw against No. 21 Colorado and a 3-2 victory over Arizona. The Cougars got off to a strong start on the season and were ranked as high as 10th nationally last month. BYU holds a pair of wins over ranked foes with a 1-0 decision over No. 4 UCLA and a 3-1 victory over No. 24 Minnesota.
Brigham Young was picked to finish third in the Big 12 this season after going 9-7-5 overall and taking fourth in the conference with a 6-2-3 league record a year ago. BYU capped its 2024 campaign with its seventh straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Ellie Walbruch leads the Cougars offensively with 11 goals and 23 points. She is also tops on the team and tied for the conference lead in shots with 64. Mia Goettsche and Mia Lopez are tied for second on the team in goals scored with four, while preseason all-conference honoree Mika Krommenhoek paces the club in assists with five. Paiton Collins leads BYU in goal with 49 saves and having started all 16 matches.
Brigham Young is coached by Jennifer Rockwood. Rockwood is in her 31st season of the helm for the Cougars and holds over 470 career victories. She has led BYU to an impressive total of 25 NCAA Tournament appearances.
SERIES HISTORY VS. BYU
Monday's match will mark just the third all-time meeting between the Knights and Cougars. BYU will enter play holding a 2-0-0 advantage. The Cougars claimed the previous two meetings that both came in 2023 by scores of 3-2 (in Provo) and 4-1 (at the Big 12 Tournament). Monday will mark the first meeting between the two in Orlando.
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 11 goals, or 0.69 per game. Perez Watson’s six clean sheets bests her two from 2024, and she has set career highs in save percentage (.831) and goals against average (.688). Her 54 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 and her first collegiate goal against Baylor.
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 16 matches with 12 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 24-11 on the season and after netting the game-winning goal on Thursday, Rajanah Reedpaces the squad with six. Liz Worden is right behind her with five, while Honoka Hamano has four. Worden continues to front the team in assists (8), points (18), and shots (48). Reed leads the way with her 24 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
The Knights will close their 2025 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 qualify for the Big 12 Soccer Tournament presented by Allstate that will get underway with the quarterfinals on Monday, Nov. 3 at TCU’s Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium.
TICKETS
UCF women’s soccer season and single-game tickets are on sale now. Please visit ucfknights.com/tickets for more information or call the ticket office at (407) 823-1000.
ABOUT UCF ATHLETICS
UCF is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference. Our mission is to positively transform the lives of our students academically, athletically, and personally through a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the reputation and visibility of the University. We strive to be Florida's preeminent athletic program representing UCF and our community with distinction on the national stage as "Orlando's Hometown Team". To learn more about UCF and Athletics, please visit our websites at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.
