The UCF Women’s Soccer team closed out preseason play Saturday night at the UCF Soccer Complex, pouring in five goals over North Florida to tally a shutout win.
The Knights closed out their preseason with two wins, eight goals for and no goals against. Of the eight goals scored in their two matches, six of them came from different individual players.
“A lot of different players got to see the field tonight,” associate head coach Tim Sahaydak said. “We are happy with where we are at now, but obviously, it’s early on in the season, so there is still a lot of things to work on.”
Just over ten minutes into Saturday’s match, junior midfielder Carrie Lawrence struck from outside the 18-yard box, trickling off the bottom of the crossbar and into the net. The midfielder was assisted by a cross from senior forward Morgan Ferrara.
“We have had a really good couple of weeks leading up to this,” Lawrence said. “We came out strong and did what we needed to do and it was nice to get another result in preseason tonight.”
The Knights dominated in possession against the Ospreys, with UCF’s second goal coming less than fifteen minutes later off a cross from junior defender Emily Tipton, allowing senior winger Christine Creighton to volley it in.
“I think our buildup, bringing the ball from the goalkeeper forward was good,” Sahaydak said. “Our possession was good in the back without too many technical errors.”
The buildup was more than good, especially in the second half, where for the second game in a row, redshirt senior midfielder Kayla Adamek scored just three minutes in.
“We created a lot of opportunities to score and we put a few of them in the back of the net, so you know we are happy,” Sahaydak said.
From a follow-up smash off the foot of junior defender Maura Aman, to the hanger from senior forward Hannah DeBose, UCF managed to set a new record.
It was the first time since Sept. 8 of last season that the Knights have scored five goals in a game.
Next up for the Knights is SEC powerhouse South Carolina. UCF fell short in a tough loss last year and is looking for a different result to open up their 2017 season.
“South Carolina is a great team,” Lawrence said. “They are ranked pretty high so it will be a good test for us right from the start of our regular season.”
The Knights officially open their season at No. 4 South Carolina next Sunday, Aug, 18 at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network.
