Photo by Diego Besne

Knights Now Unbeaten in Seven Straight Against the Gators

The UCF women’s soccer team flipped the script Thursday night in their season opener, winning 4-3 in a fight against in-state rival Florida.

Thursday’s opener marked the 28th all-time contest between the two programs, with the Gators holding a 14-11-2 advantage in the series.

The Knights went down early, conceding two goals in the first twenty minutes of the match.

With the Knights looking to answer, senior forward Naomi Clark found the back of the net in the 24th minute, assisted by junior midfielder Ainsley Moy and redshirt sophomore midfielder Gabi Berchon.

Clark spoke about that moment and emphasized the importance of staying composed as a team to avoid falling short despite going down 2-0.

“Teams can either fall short and just give up, and I knew if we wanted to stay in it, I had to do something,” Clark said in the postgame press conference. “That first goal alleviated that pressure and it had to be done.”

Clark scored the lone goal in the half for the Knights.

The Knights came out hot in the second half with an equalizer coming three minutes in by substitute junior midfielder Ella Holloran.

Clark then rose to the occasion once again and secured a brace at the 51st minute with a lead taking goal. A goal that was followed by an electric backflip.

Clark spoke on what it felt like to have the team on her back in those big moments and what it meant to fight uniformly as a team.

“We got to stay as a unit, and they depend on me,” Clark said. “Some girls looked me in the face and said, ‘we need you,’ and I took it as I’m doing it for them.”

The clincher came in the 83rd minute with a penalty kick by Berchon, making it four straight unanswered and giving the Knights a 4-2 lead.

Berchon said the penalty kick didn’t pressure her as it was just what she practices.

“In the game, I do what I practice and every practice, I play as I’m going to play in a game,” Berchon said. “So, the moment I saw the PK, I knew I was going to make it because I don’t need to do anything different.”

Florida stayed in the moment and fought till the very end, tallying more than double the shots taken by the Knights by the end of the game.

Junior goalkeeper Kaina Cesar fought just as hard. Although letting in two early goals and a late goal in the 89th minute, Cesar ended the night with five critical saves.

Head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak commended her squad and their ability to handle pressure and adversity postgame.

“We’re showing we can handle it,” Sahaydak said. “I think we switched that momentum, and we just wanted to put them on the back foot.”

Thursday’s victory extended the Knights’ unbeaten streak against the Gators to seven, as well as their Opening Knight win streak.

The Knights will look to build on this performance as they hit the road to face the No. 16-ranked LSU Tigers on Aug. 20 at 8 p.m.