The University of Central Florida's women's soccer team suffered its first defeat at home Friday Sept. 19., falling to the Kansas Jayhawks 3-2. It was the first home loss since the 2006 season, ending a 16-win streak. The Knights enter conference play with a 5-2-1 overall record.
"It was a really good soccer game and the fans got a fun game to watch," said head coach Amanda Cromwell. "There was a lot scoring and back-and-forth action. The way we were attacking I thought we were going to score four goals tonight since we were hitting on all cylinders. But that's soccer sometimes. It's the game we hate and it's the game we love."
Junior Yvonne George scored an unassisted goal in the 9th minute to get the large crowd cheering. Shooting from the left side of the field and from about 30 yards out, she hooked the ball untouched into the back of the net for her second goal of the season.
Kansas (6-1-0) did not take long to respond. Off a well-placed corner from Shannon McCabe, Katie Williams headed the ball past Knights keeper redshirt freshman Aline Reis.
Kansas took the lead in the 39th minute as Jessica Bush passed to Kelsey Clifton, who turned and from 10 yards out rolled the ball across the goal line.
In the 60th minute, UCF drew a foul in the box. Junior Becca Thomas lined up for the penalty shot and drilled it at Kansas keeper Julie Hanley. Hanley was unable to wrap her arms around the ball, however, and Thomas followed for the rebound and easily slipped the ball into the goal. Thomas leads the Knights with four goals in the season.
Kansas' Williams was in on the Jayhawk's go-ahead goal as she made a long pass to Emily Cressy, who beat her defender before putting the ball in the top-right corner.
Though UCF fought hard for the remaining eight minutes, they were unable to take advantage of the scant opportunities Kansas surrendered in that time.
UCF travels to UAB and Memphis to open Conference USA play. Their next two home games are Oct. 3 against Marshall and Oct. 5 against East Carolina.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
UCF runs 'Wilde'
The University of Central Florida women's soccer team moved to 4-1-1 Friday night with a 2-1 victory over the Illinois State Redbirds(3-4-0), extending their undefeated streak to five games.
"We were kind of up and down tonight as far as our rhythm and attack are concerned," said head coach Amanda Cromwell. "They made it hard for us to find our forwards at times so we needed to use the width of the field more, and in the second half I think we did a better job of that."
Senior midfielder Hanna Wilde assisted on UCF's first goal in the 28th minute. Junior Becca Thomas played a cross to Wilde, who crossed to freshman Katie Jackson. Jackson then passed the ball to junior Courtney Whidden who quickly tapped the ball in the goal.
"She just creates opportunities for herself," said Cromwell of Wilde.
Wilde created the biggest opportunity for herself and the team in the second half by scoring the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute.
Just five minutes after Illinois State scored, junior Nikki Moore on the near sideline crossed the ball to Wilde who took a shot. Initially gathered up by Redbirds keeper Katie Grill-Donovan, the ball came loose and just barely crossed the goal line.
"I thought we created some decent chances," said associate head coach Colby Hale. "Individually we did all right. We're getting results. It's not pretty, it's not in the dominating fashion we'd like, but we're getting in the box now which is a step forward. We're definitely taking steps in the right direction, it's just fine-tuning things. [No. 17] Illinois and [No. 18] Kansas will be big tests for us."
Illions and Kansas will be the Knights' third and fourth times playing ranked opponents.
"We were kind of up and down tonight as far as our rhythm and attack are concerned," said head coach Amanda Cromwell. "They made it hard for us to find our forwards at times so we needed to use the width of the field more, and in the second half I think we did a better job of that."
Senior midfielder Hanna Wilde assisted on UCF's first goal in the 28th minute. Junior Becca Thomas played a cross to Wilde, who crossed to freshman Katie Jackson. Jackson then passed the ball to junior Courtney Whidden who quickly tapped the ball in the goal.
"She just creates opportunities for herself," said Cromwell of Wilde.
Wilde created the biggest opportunity for herself and the team in the second half by scoring the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute.
Just five minutes after Illinois State scored, junior Nikki Moore on the near sideline crossed the ball to Wilde who took a shot. Initially gathered up by Redbirds keeper Katie Grill-Donovan, the ball came loose and just barely crossed the goal line.
"I thought we created some decent chances," said associate head coach Colby Hale. "Individually we did all right. We're getting results. It's not pretty, it's not in the dominating fashion we'd like, but we're getting in the box now which is a step forward. We're definitely taking steps in the right direction, it's just fine-tuning things. [No. 17] Illinois and [No. 18] Kansas will be big tests for us."
Illions and Kansas will be the Knights' third and fourth times playing ranked opponents.
UCF vs. USF football column
Don't blame the Big East officiating crew for the Knight's first loss of the season Saturday night.
Oh, I know everyone is going to anyway, and they're right to gripe. I was on the sideline for the last three minutes of regulation and both overtime possessions, and about a foot to the right of the first down marker on that final 4th and 5.
Maybe my view was a bit obscured by a general love of an underdog, come-from-behind story, but I saw Central Florida QB Mike Greco get the 1st down. I saw the bad spot. Heck, I even overheard a member of the chain gang say "Wow, bad spot." (Although, in the interest of avoiding a nasty libel suit, he could have just as easily been saying "flat top" about his buzz-cut-sporting companion on the sideline.)
But don't blame the refs.
UCF is blessed, in a sense, with the image of being a cow college with a pushover football team. Bigger schools like South Florida Saturday or Texas last year come to Orlando and expect an easy win.
USF showed up, ready to sleepwalk their way through another rout of UCF. USF soon realized they had a football game on their hands when senior Joe Burnett took advantage of USF's poor kick return coverage and torched them for 91 yards with 10:32 left to go in the first quarter.
Sadly, UCF is also cursed. They had all the opportunity in the world to catch the Bulls asleep, but focused more on negating their own gains.
UCF had 12 penalties, including 6 personal fouls, for 148 yards.
The most frustrating personal foul was after a UCF third down stop in the third quarter. Facing a 3rd and 14 after an illegal block penalty, USF sent sophomore FB Richard Kelly barrelling down the field. Fifth year senior FS Jason Venson and sophomore DB Justin Boddie forced Kelly out of bounds after 10 yards.
Apparently forcing a strong opponent into a punt situation is a good time to draw a personal foul, because that's exactly what junior CB Emery Allen did after he slammed his fist into a defender's helmet.
"Personal foul, defense. 15-yard penalty. Automatic first down," intoned the referee.
Don't blame the officials, UCF shot themselves in the foot.
As for some personal observations, Class Act of the Week Award goes to the reporter from a supposedly unbiased South Florida newspaper who not only changed into a USF polo shirt before the game, he actually took his shirt off in the pressbox.And how hilarious was it to see Bulls fans celebrating? Guys, last year your team gut-stomped the Knights 64-12. This year UCF gave you a legitimate scare. This is equivalent to Notre Dame celebrating just barely edging perennial football powerhouse San Diego State earlier Saturday. Frankly, any jubilation shown is just embarrassing.
Oh, I know everyone is going to anyway, and they're right to gripe. I was on the sideline for the last three minutes of regulation and both overtime possessions, and about a foot to the right of the first down marker on that final 4th and 5.
Maybe my view was a bit obscured by a general love of an underdog, come-from-behind story, but I saw Central Florida QB Mike Greco get the 1st down. I saw the bad spot. Heck, I even overheard a member of the chain gang say "Wow, bad spot." (Although, in the interest of avoiding a nasty libel suit, he could have just as easily been saying "flat top" about his buzz-cut-sporting companion on the sideline.)
But don't blame the refs.
UCF is blessed, in a sense, with the image of being a cow college with a pushover football team. Bigger schools like South Florida Saturday or Texas last year come to Orlando and expect an easy win.
USF showed up, ready to sleepwalk their way through another rout of UCF. USF soon realized they had a football game on their hands when senior Joe Burnett took advantage of USF's poor kick return coverage and torched them for 91 yards with 10:32 left to go in the first quarter.
Sadly, UCF is also cursed. They had all the opportunity in the world to catch the Bulls asleep, but focused more on negating their own gains.
UCF had 12 penalties, including 6 personal fouls, for 148 yards.
The most frustrating personal foul was after a UCF third down stop in the third quarter. Facing a 3rd and 14 after an illegal block penalty, USF sent sophomore FB Richard Kelly barrelling down the field. Fifth year senior FS Jason Venson and sophomore DB Justin Boddie forced Kelly out of bounds after 10 yards.
Apparently forcing a strong opponent into a punt situation is a good time to draw a personal foul, because that's exactly what junior CB Emery Allen did after he slammed his fist into a defender's helmet.
"Personal foul, defense. 15-yard penalty. Automatic first down," intoned the referee.
Don't blame the officials, UCF shot themselves in the foot.
As for some personal observations, Class Act of the Week Award goes to the reporter from a supposedly unbiased South Florida newspaper who not only changed into a USF polo shirt before the game, he actually took his shirt off in the pressbox.And how hilarious was it to see Bulls fans celebrating? Guys, last year your team gut-stomped the Knights 64-12. This year UCF gave you a legitimate scare. This is equivalent to Notre Dame celebrating just barely edging perennial football powerhouse San Diego State earlier Saturday. Frankly, any jubilation shown is just embarrassing.
UCF Women's Soccer vs. Hartford 09AUG08
Last Friday the University of Central Florida women's soccer team faced a tough opponent in No. 9 Florida. On Sunday, the Knights hosted the Hartford Hawks, but their toughest opponent that afternoon may have been Hurricane Gustav, parked in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm provided a pervasive 20-30mph wind with gusts well into tropical storm range.
"The wind is harder to play in than the rain. We're used to the rain. You could tell. Our playmaking going [towards the west sideline], the balls would die or we'd run out of bounds. Wind in soccer isn't the best," said head coach Amanda Cromwell.
Indeed, several long passes rolled out of bounds before an attacker could catch up to them and continue play.
The Knights overcame a solid defensive showing by Hartford and the elements when, with five minutes left to play, junior Becca Thomas scored a late goal leading to UCF (2-1-0) defeating Hartford (2-1-1) 1-0. Assisting on the score was junior Yvonne George.
Coach Cromwell said "the offense was there" but that "the easiest thing to get right early on is the defense and the mid-fielding and now the attacking, that's what we're gonna key on this week."
This is the second straight game in which UCF scored the winning goal with less than seven minutes left to play.
"The wind is harder to play in than the rain. We're used to the rain. You could tell. Our playmaking going [towards the west sideline], the balls would die or we'd run out of bounds. Wind in soccer isn't the best," said head coach Amanda Cromwell.
Indeed, several long passes rolled out of bounds before an attacker could catch up to them and continue play.
The Knights overcame a solid defensive showing by Hartford and the elements when, with five minutes left to play, junior Becca Thomas scored a late goal leading to UCF (2-1-0) defeating Hartford (2-1-1) 1-0. Assisting on the score was junior Yvonne George.
Coach Cromwell said "the offense was there" but that "the easiest thing to get right early on is the defense and the mid-fielding and now the attacking, that's what we're gonna key on this week."
This is the second straight game in which UCF scored the winning goal with less than seven minutes left to play.
UCF vs. SC State 08AUG08
The University of Central Florida's decision to sell tickets for the first football game of the season with a buy-one-get-one promotion was questioned by the media prior to kickoff on Saturday, but an announced crowd of 42,126 showed up despite alternating bouts of driving rain and smothering humidity.
UCF had three streaks to continue and build upon Saturday: a third straight opening day win, a six-game home winning streak which is 10th-longest in the nation, and not having lost to an FCS (formerly Division I-AA) school since joining FBS (I-A) in 1996.
Fans left Bright House Networks Stadium pleased those streaks continue, but the Knights' 17-0 victory left questions in their minds as well.
The most obvious one ("Can anybody replace Kevin Smith?") has been asked again and again since Smith declared his eligibility for the NFL draft back in January. Starting RB Ronnie Weaver, a redshirt freshman, gained the most rushing yards (88) but they were spaced out across 23 runs for an average of 3.7 yards per carry. The best average (4.4 YPC) was posted by fourth year junior Mike Greco. He also posted UCF's longest run of the evening, a 25-yard scramble on a 3rd and 16 in the middle of the 2nd quarter.
Coach George O'Leary's play calling makes it obvious he was looking for someone to fill Smith's shoes. The run-to-pass play ratio was nearly four to one. "I did get done what I wanted to by getting the running backs in there and seeing how they played with the lights on," O'Leary said in a post-game statement. "I was pleased for how they played with it being the first time under the gun. They showed me what I saw in preseason, and that is the ability to play at this level," he added.
Freshman RB Latavius Murray provided both of UCF's touchdowns, one in the 2nd quarter from 1 yard out and the other in the 4th quarter from 7 yards out.
Although his role in the passing game was limited, Mike Greco did go 9-16 with 0 TDs and 0 INTs. His longest was a 30-yard pass to senior WR Rocky Ross in the 2nd quarter. However, O'Leary criticized his quarterback, saying "There was no question that he held the ball too long... He has to make quicker decisions and have confidence in his throwing ability." O'Leary did offer some praise for Greco's 72 yards on the ground, saying "One thing he did do, was take off running and was able to get some yards that way," but, he cautioned, "that will not happen against a good football team."
Defensively, the Knights held the South Carolina State Bulldogs to just 126 offensive yards and 5 first downs, as well as the first shutout in their new on-campus stadium. It was also the first time UCF shutout a team since 2001.
Fifth year senior FS Jason Venson intercepted a pass for the seventh time in his career. Venson was also in on 4 tackles for the game.
"We were sound on tackling and limiting what their offense wanted to do," said O'Leary.
Overall, O'Leary summed up by saying "We are playing a lot of young players and they just need some more playing time. There are only so many sunrises to sunsets, and they will get better by the more they play."
With their next opponent coming in the form of the University of South Florida Bulls, who last season rose as high as #2 in the national polls, O'Leary and the Knights will no doubt be making the most of the few sunrises and sunsets before Sept. 6.
UCF had three streaks to continue and build upon Saturday: a third straight opening day win, a six-game home winning streak which is 10th-longest in the nation, and not having lost to an FCS (formerly Division I-AA) school since joining FBS (I-A) in 1996.
Fans left Bright House Networks Stadium pleased those streaks continue, but the Knights' 17-0 victory left questions in their minds as well.
The most obvious one ("Can anybody replace Kevin Smith?") has been asked again and again since Smith declared his eligibility for the NFL draft back in January. Starting RB Ronnie Weaver, a redshirt freshman, gained the most rushing yards (88) but they were spaced out across 23 runs for an average of 3.7 yards per carry. The best average (4.4 YPC) was posted by fourth year junior Mike Greco. He also posted UCF's longest run of the evening, a 25-yard scramble on a 3rd and 16 in the middle of the 2nd quarter.
Coach George O'Leary's play calling makes it obvious he was looking for someone to fill Smith's shoes. The run-to-pass play ratio was nearly four to one. "I did get done what I wanted to by getting the running backs in there and seeing how they played with the lights on," O'Leary said in a post-game statement. "I was pleased for how they played with it being the first time under the gun. They showed me what I saw in preseason, and that is the ability to play at this level," he added.
Freshman RB Latavius Murray provided both of UCF's touchdowns, one in the 2nd quarter from 1 yard out and the other in the 4th quarter from 7 yards out.
Although his role in the passing game was limited, Mike Greco did go 9-16 with 0 TDs and 0 INTs. His longest was a 30-yard pass to senior WR Rocky Ross in the 2nd quarter. However, O'Leary criticized his quarterback, saying "There was no question that he held the ball too long... He has to make quicker decisions and have confidence in his throwing ability." O'Leary did offer some praise for Greco's 72 yards on the ground, saying "One thing he did do, was take off running and was able to get some yards that way," but, he cautioned, "that will not happen against a good football team."
Defensively, the Knights held the South Carolina State Bulldogs to just 126 offensive yards and 5 first downs, as well as the first shutout in their new on-campus stadium. It was also the first time UCF shutout a team since 2001.
Fifth year senior FS Jason Venson intercepted a pass for the seventh time in his career. Venson was also in on 4 tackles for the game.
"We were sound on tackling and limiting what their offense wanted to do," said O'Leary.
Overall, O'Leary summed up by saying "We are playing a lot of young players and they just need some more playing time. There are only so many sunrises to sunsets, and they will get better by the more they play."
With their next opponent coming in the form of the University of South Florida Bulls, who last season rose as high as #2 in the national polls, O'Leary and the Knights will no doubt be making the most of the few sunrises and sunsets before Sept. 6.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Introduction
This is the professional blog for Neil Tredray, currently Sports Editor of the Valencia Community College Voice.
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