Knight Cap: Women’s Soccer finishes off regular season, Men’s Soccer suffers setback

This past weekend of UCF Knights sports saw one team finish off their season strong, one in danger of missing the conference tournament, and another finishing its fall schedule.

Plus, we name the Knight of the Weekend and the Knights Play of the Weekend in your latest Knight Cap for Tuesday, November 1st, 2022.

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Women’s Soccer finishes undefeated AAC run in Tampa

The UCF Women’s Soccer team put a bow on its undefeated run in conference play with a 2-0 victory in the War on I-4 over USF.

Both teams created numerous scoring chances. The Bulls even just outshot the Knights, 14-13. However, UCF had more shots on goal (8-6).

Two of the Knights’ shots on goal found the back of the net. Forward Dayana Martin struck first for the Knights, getting her fourth goal of the season unassisted in the 16th minute. She was followed by midfielder Katie Bradley who picked up her second goal of the season, also unassisted, in the 66th minute.

The win caps off an undefeated season in conference play for the Knights (9-2-4, 7-0-1 AAC) as they prepare to host the American Athletic Conference Tournament this week.

Thanks to the win against the Bulls, the Knights have moved up to 21st in the RPI Rankings and 22nd in Top Drawer Soccer’s rankings.

Conference tournament action for top-seeded UCF begins on Thursday at 7 p.m. as the team once again faces No. 4-seed Memphis (8-5-4, 3-2-3 AAC). The Tigers are the only AAC team that did not fall to the Knights this season, with their match ending in a scoreless draw.

Should the Knights win this match, they will advance to the conference championship match at 1 p.m. on Sunday, facing the winner of No. 2-seed USF vs. No. 6-seed SMU.

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Volleyball picks up victory in return to Kansas

The UCF Volleyball team picked up a couple more conference victories last weekend against Tulsa, 3-1, and Wichita State, 3-1.

It was the first time the team had given up a set since their loss to Houston on Oct. 7.

After a dip in hitting percentage last week, outside hitter McKenna Melville rebounded to notch 47 kills across both matches. She also got her 115th career service ace against Wichita State, which ties her for the 10th-most career service aces in program history.

Melville was named the AAC’s Offensive Player of the Week for her achievements.

Fellow outside hitter Heidi Bonde set a new career high for herself with a 19-kill match against Tulsa. She added 13 kills against Wichita State to make a weekend total of 32 kills.

Middle Blocker Abby Hansen matched her season-high in blocks with a nine-block performance against Wichita State. It added to her seven against Tulsa to make 16 total for the weekend. She was named the AAC’s Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts.

The wins propelled the Knights 19-1 (11-1 AAC) up to No. 24 on the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll and maintained its place at No. 19 in the RPI Rankings.

This weekend, the Knights will return home to take on SMU on Friday at 7 p.m. followed. by a Sunday match at 1 p.m. against Memphis.

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Men’s Soccer in Danger of Missing AAC Tournament After Loss in Tulsa

The UCF Men’s Soccer team suffered a setback in its AAC Tournament aspirations after suffering a 1-0 loss on the road against No. 14-ranked Tulsa.

The Knights were only able to get two shots off during the entire match, one of which was on goal. Meanwhile, Tulsa peppered goalkeeper Juanvi Munoz, getting 18 shots off, six of which were on goal. Munoz saved five of them, but in the 75th minute, one got passed him.

UCF was further hindered by a pair of red cards. The first, in the 55th minute, ejected forward Gino Vivi from the match. The second, in the 80th minute, took defender Andres Hernandez Betancur off the pitch, leaving the team to play the final 10 minutes with only nine players.

Thanks to the loss, and a 2-1 win by FAU over SMU, UCF (6-6, 3-5 AAC) is now on the outside looking in on the American Athletic Conference Tournament and in danger of missing a conference tournament for the first time since 2009.

For the Knights to secure a spot, they have to win their 7 p.m. Wednesday matchup against USF and FAU must lose in its matchup the same night against FIU.

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Cross Country Competes in AAC Championship Meet

The UCF Cross Country team took the course in Tulsa for the American Athletic Conference Championship 6K.

True freshman Penelope Sosa and sophomore Lillian Holtery led the way for the Knights, finishing in the Top 25 individually. Sosa set a new 6K personal best with a 21:54.1 time, finishing in 23rd. Holtery matched her 6K personal best time, 22:02.9, and finished in 25th.

As for the team as a whole, UCF finished in 8th place with 205 points, 168 points behind the champion, Tulsa.

Next week, on Nov. 11, the team will hit the course in Huntsville, Alabama for the second time this fall to run in the NCAA South Regional Championship.

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Women’s Golf caps off fall schedule in North Carolina

The UCF Women’s Golf team capped off its fall schedule this weekend at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Junior Tunrada Piddon led the way for the Knights individually, earning a Top 20 finish. Her 215 (-1) score for the tournament was enough to put her in a tie for 20th place. One stroke behind her, true freshman Pimpisa “Sandwich” Sisutham finished at 216 (E), putting her in a tie for 25th.

As for the team as a whole, the Knights made it into the top five of an 18-team field. With a total score of 867 (+3), the team finished in 5th place. While it was 25 strokes behind the winning team, San Jose State, it was ahead of eight Top 50-ranked teams, including No. 31-ranked North Carolina and No. 11-ranked Duke.

To see the full results of the Landfall Tradition, check out its full results page on golfstat.com.

The team will return to begin spring action on Feb. 5-7, 2023 as the hosts of the UCF Challenge at Eagle Creek Golf Club.

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Knight of the Week

Caroline DeLisle, Women’s Soccer

The senior goalkeeper tallied six saves for the UCF Women’s Soccer team in its 2-0 victory over USF, which earned her the honor of being the AAC’s Goalkeeper of the Week.

However, during that match, she made her way into the Top 5 on UCF’s all-time saves list. Now sitting at 213 career saves, DeLisle has leapfrogged Jessica Kuhlman (1999-2002) and Jennifer Manis (2005-2007) to have the 5th-most saves in program history.

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Play of the Week

Forward Dayana Martin airs it into the net to put UCF on the board in War on I-4