No. 16 UCF Women's Soccer Delivers 3-2 Win Over UTEP
Knights post 27 shots and 13 corner kicks in the victory against the Miners.
Oct. 9, 2009
Final Stats
Box Score in PDF Format
By
Brian
Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
 ORLANDO,
Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Remaining atop the Conference USA standings, the
No. 16 UCF women's soccer team used 27 shots to take down UTEP, 3-2, Friday
in front of 735 fans at the UCF Soccer Complex. Three different Knights
scored goals to allow the Black and Gold to improve to 9-3-1 on the season
and 4-1-0 in league play.
The evening's match against the Miners (9-4-0, 3-2-0) was dedicated to
Freedom High soccer player Breanna McMahon, who was recently seriously
injured in an accident which forced her left leg to be amputated. Members of
her club team, FC America, were on hand accepting donations for the McMahon
family.
"That was one of our typical games against UTEP," said head coach
Amanda Cromwell. "They are a good, attacking team and counter so well.
But 27 shots is a lot of shots. I think we were unlucky to not score more,
but I'm glad we were able to give the crowd a good game. In a night where we
dedicated this to Breanna, I'm very happy we won. I told the team before the
game that she has been through a lot of adversity. And we ended up having
some adversity tonight and we battled back from it."
UCF's 27 shots were the most all year, eclipsing the previous mark of 20
set in the season-opener vs. Florida Gulf Coast Aug. 21. Senior
Emily Maynard finished with a game-high six attempts with three of them
on goal. Meanwhile, the Knights dominated in corner kicks, completing the
win with 13 compared to UTEP's one.
In net, sophomore
Aline Reis added five more saves to help the defense hold on for the
victory.
"In the back, you have to give credit to
Nikki Moore for shutting down their right-flank player because she was
giving us problems in the first half," said Cromwell. "We switched Nikki
over there and she did an awesome job."
When the first half got underway, UTEP took advantage of a bad clearing
attempt by the Knights, as Brittany Vacca secured the loose ball in the
ninth minute and put it over Reis from about 35 yards out.
The Miners' lead would be short-lived. In the 23rd minute, freshman
Bianca Joswiak witnessed her shot be blocked by a UTEP defender only to
have classmate
Nicolette Radovcic grab the rebound in the left side of the box and put
it away for her third of the season.
With tons of momentum and several Knights taking aim at the net and UTEP
keeper Chandra Morden, UCF did not want a tie going into halftime and got
its wish in the 41st minute. After a pair of precise passes from freshman
Tishia Jewell and senior
Becca Thomas, junior
Kim Newsome gained possession in front but her shot clanked off the
crossbar. However it bounced high in the goal mouth and with Morden trying
to recover back to position, Newsome easily headed it in to make it 2-1. It
was her first goal of the 2009 campaign.
Entering the second half with a 13-5 advantage in shots, UCF could not
hold on when Tameka Sumter deflected in a crossing pass from Anoop Josan in
the 46th minute.
But that sparked the Knights' offense, and eventually they continued to
put the UTEP backs on their heels throughout the second half. That finally
resulted in the game-winner in the 55th minute, as a hard ball struck an arm
of a Miner in the box, forcing the referee to call for a penalty kick.
Senior
Becca Thomas calmly walked up and executed, putting it in the left side
for her first tally of the season.
The Knights will complete their C-USA weekend by welcoming Colorado
College to town Sunday at noon. Admission is free.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the
official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket
and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new
online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for
UCF action sports pictures.
Postgame Notes
UTEP (9-4-0, 3-2-0) - 2
No. 16 UCF (9-3-1, 4-1-0) - 3
Goals: UTEP Brittany Vacca (2) 9th, UCF
Nicolette Radovcic (3) 23rd, UCF
Kim Newsome (1) 41st, UTEP Tameka Sumter (6), 46th, UCF
Becca Thomas PK (1) 55th
-With
Kim Newsome scoring her first of the year in the opening half and
Becca Thomas doing the same in the second, a total of 12 different
players have tallied goals in 2009.
-Thomas' penalty kick goal was UCF's first PK attempt of the year.
-UCF finished by outshooting UTEP, 27-12, including a 13-5 edge in the first
half and 14-7 in the second.
-In all,
Bianca Joswiak,
Courtney Whidden,
Becca Thomas and
Tishia Jewell picked up assists for the Knights.
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