Women’s Soccer Advances with 2-0 First-Round Victory over MaineWomen’s Soccer Advances with 2-0 First-Round Victory over Maine

Women’s Soccer Advances with 2-0 First-Round Victory over Maine

by James Warnick
Box Score

ORLANDO – Rajanah Reed found the back of the net in the first half and Hannah Boughton netted a goal in the second half to lead UCF women’s soccer to a 2-0 2025 NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship opening-round victory over Maine on Friday night at the UCF Soccer Complex.

The seventh-seeded Knights upped their record to 12-3-5 on the season with the win and will advance on to play at the second-seeded Duke Blue Devils in the Round of 32 on Thursday, Nov. 20. The Black Bears had their season come to a close with a 6-8-4 record.

“I’m very excited for the team and proud of them. It was our last home game, so we wanted to make the most of it. We had our ups and downs in this match for sure, but getting a result was the main goal,” head UCF coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak said. “Overall, just really proud of this team and pleased that we were able to end our final home game feeling good about our performance.”

The America East tournament champion Black Bears had an early chance, as Gillian Rovers fired a shot towards the goal in the second minute, but Genesis Perez Watson was there to make a diving stop.

Still scoreless through 20 minutes of play, Guta Franke fed a pass into the left corner for Liz Worden. Worden managed to beat her defender and slot a pass into the center of the box for Reed and the senior forward buried it into the back of the net in the 21st minute to give the Knights a 1-0 advantage. The goal marked Reed’s team-leading eighth of the season, as well as Worden’s team-best 10th assist and Franke’s first.

Reed had another opportunity in the 35th minute and one more in the 61st minute but both were saved by Maine’s Elena Barenberg to keep it a 1-0 game.

With the Black and Gold holding to the one-goal lead, Honoka Hamano played a ball to Franke on the far side of the field. Franke then one-touched a pass right to Boughton in the box and the senior defender no-look flicked it towards goal with her head and past Maine’s keeper to make it 2-0 in the 65th minute. The goal marked Boughton’s first of the season as well as Franke’s second assist of the game.

UCF kept the pressure on offensively with a handful of shots over the next few minutes. But Maine countered and looked to get on the scoresheet late with a trio of shots down the stretch, but the game would conclude with the 2-0 score.

In all, the Knights outshot the Black Bears 17-7 on the night and 5-2 on goal. Hamano led UCF with four shots while Reed and Boughton finished with three apiece. Luise Reinwald led the Maine attack with a trio of shots.

Perez Watson saved both shots that were sent her way in the game to record her eighth clean sheet of the season. The Black and Gold shot-stopper upped her goalie record to 12-3-5 on the season with the result.

With the win, UCF has lost just once over its last 11 games (6-1-4). A season-high total of 1,132 fans came out to the UCF Soccer Complex to witness Friday’s victory.

The victory marked the Black and Gold’s second straight NCAA Tournament first round advancement, as they previously advanced via penalty kicks at NC State in their last appearance in 2022. Friday’s result too marked UCF’s first home NCAA Tournament win since 2014 when it defeated Georgia by a score of 2-1 in the first round. The Black and Gold now hold an all-time record of 20-22 in NCAA Tournament action.

The seventh-seeded Knights will now head to Durham to face the second-seeded Duke Blue Devils. The second-round match is set for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20 from Duke’s Freeman Field at Koskinen Stadium. The winner will advance to the Sweet 16 that will be held Sunday, Nov. 23 too in Durham while the loser will be eliminated.

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