Perez Watson Tabbed Big 12 Goalkeeper, Silvest Defender of the WeekPerez Watson Tabbed Big 12 Goalkeeper, Silvest Defender of the Week

Perez Watson Tabbed Big 12 Goalkeeper, Silvest Defender of the Week

by James Warnick

IRVING, Texas – As announced by the conference office on Monday morning, UCF redshirt sophomore Genesis Perez Watson has been named the Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Week while redshirt sophomore Jada Silvest has been tabbed the Big 12 Defender of the Week.

The weekly honors are the final of the season and the second for Perez Watson and the first for Silvest.

The two earned weekly conference accolades after leading the Knights to a 0-0 draw in the regular-season finale at No. 15/6 Texas Tech on Thursday to lock up the No. 6 seed for this week’s Big 12 Soccer Tournament Presented by Allstate.

Perez Watson claimed keeper honors after recording her seventh clean sheet of the season. The UCF shot-stopper saved all five shots that were sent her way in the contest, which included a last-second header in the box from the Red Raiders to help the Knights hold TTU scoreless. With the shutout, UCF is now 5-0-4 over its last nine matches.

Perez Watson will enter the conference tournament ranked second in the league in goals against average (.667), third in save percentage (.846), and fifth in saves (66). She has also played all 1620 minutes on the season and holds a 11-2-5 record in goal.

Silvest earned her first conference weekly honor of the year after also being key in UCF’s shutout over No. 15/6 TTU. The Black and Gold center back anchored the UCF back line that limited the Red Raiders to just five shots on goal in the game. Silvest played all 90 minutes in what marked UCF's seventh shutout of the season.

Silvest has played and started all 18 matches on season for the Knights and is second on the team in minutes played by having logged over 1600 minutes.

Colorado’s Reagan Kotschau (Offensive), BYU’s Izzi Stratton (Co-Defensive) and Mia Lopez (Co-Freshman), and TCU’s Emma Yolinsky (Co-Freshman) also claimed conference weekly honors on Monday.

The sixth-seeded Knights will open 2025 Big 12 Soccer Tournament Presented by Allstate play on Monday at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT against the third-seeded and No. 11/4 Colorado Buffaloes in the quarterfinal round. The game will be contested at TCU’s Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, and will be streamed live on ESPN+. The winner will advance to the Wednesday’s semifinal round, while the loser will be eliminated.