Women’s Soccer Draws at No. 6 Texas Tech to Secure Six Seed for Big 12 TournamentWomen’s Soccer Draws at No. 6 Texas Tech to Secure Six Seed for Big 12 Tournament

Women’s Soccer Draws at No. 6 Texas Tech to Secure Six Seed for Big 12 Tournament

by James Warnick
Box Score

LUBBOCK, Texas – Behind a game-high five saves from Genesis Perez Watson, the UCF women’s soccer team recorded a 0-0 draw at No. 6 Texas Tech in the regular-season finale on Thursday night at John Walker Soccer Complex.

With the result, the Knights (11-2-5, 5-1-5 Big 12) are unbeaten in their last nine matches and have earned the No. 6 seed for next week’s 2025 Big 12 Soccer Tournament presented by Allstate. The Black and Gold will open play in the quarterfinals on Monday night against the third-seeded Colorado Buffaloes. The Red Raiders finished their regular season with a 13-2-3 record and earned the No. 4 seed for the conference tournament with a 7-1-3 conference clip.

“I absolutely love coaching this team. They’re so gritty and resilient, and they give everything for each other,” head UCF coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak said. “Genesis was incredible tonight, but it was a full team effort—everyone left it all out there. I’m so proud of the them and can’t wait to see us keep building on this heading into the tournament.”

UCF had an early chance, as Rajanah Reed found Tyra Eriksen on the right side. The freshman forward fired a strike towards the goal, but the shot was just saved by a diving stop from TTU keeper Faith Nguyen in the eighth minute.

The Red Raiders looked to get on the scoresheet in the 27th minute as Peyton Parsons fired a shot from distance, but Perez Watson was there to record a leaping save and keep the game scoreless.

Perez Watson tallied a trio of saves in the opening half to help keep the game scoreless at the break.

Liz Worden had a shot for the Knights early in the second half and Eriksen followed with her second shot on frame of the game in the 72nd minute, but that was all the offense the Knights could muster in the second half.

With Texas Tech looking to score the go-ahead goal in the second half, the Red Raider offense would tally a total of 13 shots in the final period. Of the 13 shots, seven of them came in the final 10 minutes.

The UCF defense was up for the challenge, however, as it denied the Red Raiders of scoring down the stretch. After a handful of shots that were just off target, TTU had one more opportunity with the clock ticking down under 10 seconds. Texas Tech got off a corner kick and Taylor Zdrojewski was in the box to head a shot towards the goal, but Perez Watson was able to make push the ball over the crossbar as time expired to seal the draw.

For the game, TTU outshot the Knights 20-3 and five to two on goal. Perez Watson saved all five shots that were sent her way to earn her seventh clean sheet of the season and move to 11-2-5 on the year.

Zdrojewski paced Texas Tech with seven shots in the contest while the freshman Eriksen led UCF with two.

TTU entered the game ranked sixth by Top Drawer Soccer, 15th by the United Soccer Coaches, and 17th in the RPI. The Black and Gold entered the contest with the nation’s 27th-best RPI.

With the result, UCF hasn’t lost a match since Sept. 25 at Arizona. The Knights are 5-0-4 during the stretch. The Black and Gold also remains unbeaten on the season against ranked foes with a 2-0-1 mark against nationally ranked opponents.

The Knights will now head to Fort Worth, Texas for the 2025 Big 12 Soccer Tournament presented by Allstate. The sixth-seeded Black and Gold will open play on Monday in the quarterfinal round against the third-seeded Colorado Buffaloes at TCU. The winner will advance to the semifinal round that will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 5. The Big 12 Tournament championship game will take place on Saturday, Nov. 8 at Baylor.