Women’s Soccer Tournament Road Ends in PKs against UCLA

The UCF Knights Women’s Soccer team’s season came to an end Friday night after falling in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to No. 1-seed UCLA in penalty kicks, 1-1 (3-0).

Both teams had their fair share of shots they got off, combining for 43 shots overall and 17 on goal.

The Knights (9-2-7, 7-0-1 AAC) got on the board first as forward Dayana Martin scored a goal in the 35th minute with an assist from fellow forward Kristen Scott. It was her fifth goal of the season, tying her with fellow forward Mallory Olsson for the second-most on the team.

The Bruins would respond a few minutes later, in the 38th minute, with an equalizer off of one of its 13 corner kicks. The goal was headed in by UCLA midfielder Jackie Gilday, the only Florida native on the team. Gilday hails from New Smyrna Beach, a graduate of Spruce Creek High School. She was assisted on her goal by true freshman midfielder Ally Lemos.

Goalkeeper Caroline DeLisle helped keep UCLA scoreless for the rest of the match before it had to be settled with penalty kicks. She surpassed her season-high from her last match, tallying nine saves Friday night.

Those nine saves also propelled DeLisle to 233 saves overall for her career, surpassing Vera Varis (2015-18) for 4th-place on the program’s all-time career saves list.

Speaking of records, Scott will finish her career tied for 6th place on the program’s all-time goalscoring list at 33 goals with Courtney Whidden (2006-09).

The loss brings the 2022 season to a close for the UCF Women’s Soccer team as it finishes its final season in the AAC before moving on to the Big 12 by making its deepest run into the postseason since 2014.