ORLANDO – The UCF women’s soccer team achieved new heights in the 2025 season, playing in the Big 12 Tournament for the second time in three years and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022, and the 23rd time in program history.
The Knights took down multiple ranked foes for the first time since 2019 en route to a sixth-place finish in the Big 12 and an NCAA Tournament Second Round appearance.
Liz Worden and Rajanah Reed led a Knights attack that had 10 different players on the scoresheet, including seven netting their first goals wearing black and gold. Genesis Perez Watson held down the line on the other end of the field to help garner UCF its highest win total (12) since 2017.
DYNAMIC DUO
In 2025, it was a rare occurrence to not see either Liz Worden or Rajanah Reed on the scoresheet. Together, the attacking partners either scored or assisted 20 out of 30 of UCF’s goals on the season, and they combined with each other eight times, accounting for five game-winning goals.
Individually, both had stellar campaigns. Worden’s 10 assists were the most on the squad, and good enough for 17th in the nation, third in the Big 12, and ninth all-time for UCF. Along with her seven goals, Worden became the first Knight to record at least 10 assists and five goals in a season since Tatiana Coleman in 2014. The senior forward achieved season highs in games played and started, goals, assists, points, shots, shots on goal, shot percentage, and minutes. She capped off an outstanding fall term with first-time selections to the All-Big 12 First Team and United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region Second Team.
Reed enjoyed a breakout season of her own. The Glendale, Arizona native posted season highs across the board in every statistical category, notably scoring eight goals and assisting three more for a total of 19 points. Her six game-winning goals were the third-most in the nation and were tied for second in the Big 12. Reed concluded her 2025 term with All-Big 12 Second Team honors, as well as United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region Fourth Team accolades, both for the first time in her career.
STABILITY IN THE BACK
On the defensive front, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson led the Knights to concede only 16 goals and 0.76 per game in 2025, which is the least since 2022 (13 goals, .72 per game). The Costa Rican shot stopper’s eight clean sheets are a career best, ranking fifth in the Big 12. Her save percentage (.849) ranked 20th nationally and second in the Big 12, and her goals-against average (.762) ranked 42nd nationally and third in the Big 12. Perez Watson’s 90 total saves ranked her 44th in the country, third in the Big 12, and is good for ninth on the UCF single-season save list.
Her individual performances kept the Black and Gold in crucial matches all season, as she posted five or more saves in nine out of 21 matches. Despite UCF’s season ending in the NCAA Tournament Second Round against Duke, Perez Watson posted a career-best 15 saves, topping her 14-save performance against Colorado on Oct. 13, 2024. Her historic performance in net displaced that Colorado outing in the UCF all-time single-game save rankings, placing her tied for fourth for her second appearance on the list.
Perez Watson walked away from the fall slate with a stellar campaign that found her named to the All-Big 12 Second Team, as well as taking home two Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Week awards and a Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week award.
THE WIN COLUMN
The Black and Gold ended the season with 12 wins, marking the most in a single season since 2017 (13). They went on a nine-game unbeaten streak in conference play and recorded the least amount of conference losses (1) since joining the Big 12. Among those, four games stand out among the rest, showcasing the resilience and grit that defined the 2025 team.
At the heart of the non-conference schedule, the Knights hosted SEC outfit LSU as they began the season on a three-game winning streak. Midfielder Gabi Berchon scored her first career goal in the fifth minute of play, before LSU evened the scales in the second half. The Brazilian went on to score the game winner with only 11 seconds left, a result that would propel UCF to a 4-0-0 start and later a 7-1-0 non-conference record.
Coming off a loss at Arizona, the Black and Gold continued their road trip through the Grand Canyon State with a visit to No. 17 Arizona State. Liz Worden scored a goal and assisted another, and UCF’s three goals within the first 70 minutes were enough to earn the program its first ranked win of the season over the Sun Devils, 3-2.
After the triumph over ASU, the Knights found themselves on a six-game unbeaten streak with a Senior Knight tilt against No. 16/10 Baylor looming on the horizon. Defender Jada Silvest scored the first goal of her collegiate career and Rajanah Reed notched her fifth game-winning goal of the season to lift UCF above a ranked opponent at the UCF Soccer Complex for the first time since 2024’s Senior Knight, when it knocked off No. 24 Georgia, 2-0.
Following the conclusion of the conference championship games, UCF heard its name selected for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament, with a first round matchup at home against Maine on the cards. The home game marked the 11th time that the Knights hosted an NCAA Tournament First Round competition and the program’s first since 2017. Defender Guta Franke assisted both Reed’s and Hannah Boughton’s goals to send the Knights to the second round for the first time since 2017, capping off a 7-1-2 record at the UCF Soccer Complex in 2025.
INDIVIDUAL EXCELLENCE
Eleven Knights took home individual awards following standout performances throughout the season. After her last-minute brace against LSU, Gabi Berchon took home Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors for the week of Aug. 27. Genesis Perez Watson secured Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Week awards in back-to-back weeks, as well as a spot on the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week, for her combined 12 saves between UCF’s successive clean sheets against Utah on Oct. 2 (2-0) and Kansas State on Oct. 5 (0-0). She also earned herself a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team for her season-long performances.
At the midway point of the season, Top Drawer Soccer released its midseason player rankings, with two Knights making the lists. Freshman forward Tyra Eriksen ranked No. 58 on the TDS Midseason Top 100 Freshman list, and defender Jada Silvest clocked in at No. 80 in the TDS Midseason Top 100 list.
Silvest also brought home a Big 12 Defender of the Week award following her goal against Baylor on Oct. 23 and her performance in UCF’s clean sheet against No. 15/6 Texas Tech on Oct. 30.
Although the regular season was over, awards continued to flood in for the Black and Gold. Liz Worden’s selection to the All-Big 12 First Team was only the start, as Perez Watson, Rajanah Reed, Honoka Hamano, and Maria Tregansin all featured on the second team.
Worden also heard her name called for the United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region Second Team, as did Hamano for the third team, and Reed for the fourth team.
Additionally, Hannah Boughton, Guta Franke, Haylee Mersereau, Tregansin, Silvest, and Hamano earned CSC Academic All-District Team awards, making up the most honorees in program history, tied for the most of any team, and the most of any Big 12 institution.
TRANSFERS ON TARGET
After the conclusion of the 2024 season, UCF lost more than half of its squad, with 16 of its 30 players moving on from the program. Coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak was given a tall order to bolster her squad ahead of the 2025 campaign, and she and her staff exceeded expectations.
Of the 12 transfers that joined the squad, eight went on to make starts during the season, with six becoming regular starters. Transfers accounted for 63% of the Black and Gold’s goals this season, scoring 19 out of 30 goals. They also made up 52% of UCF’s assists, with 18 out of the 34 credited to transfers.
Newcomers led in many stat categories for UCF, including goals, assists, points, shots, shots on goal, and game-winning goals on the offensive side. They also topped the team in defensive and passing statistics such as clearances per match, successful dribbles per match, accurate long balls per match, shots on target per match, and key passes per match.
2025 SEASON RECAP
In total, the Knights posted a 12-4-5 record, finishing sixth in their third year in the Big 12 Conference with a 5-1-5 conference tab. They finished the season receiving two votes in the final United Soccer Coaches rankings poll, sitting just outside the top 25. The Black and Gold finished with an RPI ranking of 32, which marks the highest finish since 2022, and the third time in the last four years that the team has finished inside the top 40. UCF qualified for its second Big 12 Conference tournament in three years, and appeared in its 41st and 42nd NCAA Tournament matches in program history.
The 2025 campaign marked head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak’s 13th season at the helm of UCF women’s soccer. The Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion holds a 133-65-37 (.645) record in Orlando and a 186-115-56 (.599) career clip over 19 seasons.