Knight Cap: Clean Sheets and a Team Title

SB Nation

Over this past week, the UCF Knights sports world saw one team pull a season-saving upset, another compete for spots in an NCAA Tournament team and another record its third-straight shutout.

We also have

our Knight of the Week and Play of the Week in this Monday, Oct. 13 edition of Knight Cap.

Women’s Soccer Records Third Straight Clean Sheet

The UCF Women’s Soccer team accomplished its third consecutive clean sheet on Sunday in Cincinnati, though it did so via a scoreless draw against the Bearcats.

Goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson tallied four saves in her sixth shutout of the season.

The Knights (8-2-3, 2-1-3 Big 12) may have outshot the Bearcats, 12-8, and generated some opportunities in the second half, but none of their five shots on goal made it to the back of the net. This marks their third scoreless draw of the season, all of which came in Big 12 play.

The draw pulls UCF even with Kansas in a tie for sixth in the Big 12 standings at nine points. The top eight advance to the Big 12 conference tournament.

The Knights’ road trip continues this week with matches against Oklahoma State on Thursday at 8 p.m. and then Houston on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Men’s Soccer Stuns #11 Georgia Southern

UCF Men’s soccer picked up its first ranked win of the season against #11 Georgia Southern in a 3-0 victory on Friday.

View this story from Steven Brown for more.

Volleyball Adds Second Big 12 Win

The UCF Volleyball team hosted the #11 TCU Horned Frogs and West Virginia Mountaineers at The Venue as part of a three-match home stand this week.

The Knights dropped a four-set match to the Horned Frogs on Thursday night (20–25, 25–27, 29–27, 22–25), with the tightly contested second and third sets decided in extra points. The match featured 36 tied scores and 19 lead changes.

Outside hitter Avah Armour led the Knights offensively with 18 kills, while middle blocker Sasha Cohen, outside hitter Fallon Stewart and middle blocker Ella Chapman each added nine. Setter Abby Schomers recorded 45 assists, marking her fifth match of the season with 40 or more.

UCF looked to bounce back on Saturday against the Mountaineers. The Knights swept West Virginia in three straight sets (25-19, 25-19, 25-20) Sunday afternoon to earn their second conference win.

The Knights dominated the first set, maintaining the lead with no ties or lead changes while posting a .417 hitting percentage. The second set concluded with a 5-0 scoring run, and the third set finished on a 3-0 run.

Libero Sarah Mendoza recorded four service aces, matching her career-high from earlier this season against Stetson. Armour led the Knights in both kills and digs, finishing with 17 and 6, respectively.

UCF’s three-match home stand at The Venue concludes on Friday with a match against Arizona (9-6, 3-2 Big 12) at 6 p.m.

Men’s Golf Finishes Mid-pack in Estero

The UCF Men’s Golf team placed sixth with an 850 (14-under) at the Island at West Bay Collegiate Invitational, hosted by Florida Gulf Coast University, this week.

Competing against 12 schools, the Knights held their own at the first in-state tournament of the season so far. After an unfavorable first day, UCF was able to make a comeback on day two with a 274 (14-under).

Finishing in 13th overall, sophomore Camden Goldknopf led the Knights with a 208 (8-under). In the final round, specifically, he was supported by senior Chase Haygood with a 66 (6-under) and junior Hans Risvaer with a 67 (5-under).

Check out the full results for the Island at West Bay Collegiate Invitational here.

The Knights will be back after a two-week break to wrap their fall slate with the FAU Invitational on Oct. 27-28 at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens.

Women’s Golf Outclasses Field in Illinois

The UCF Women’s Golf team pulled off a commanding victory at the Illini Invitational this week, marking its first team title in just under two years.

The Knights finished 22 strokes ahead of second-place SMU with an 832 (32-under), the second-lowest team score in program history. They reached this point thanks to a consistent showing, with all three of their rounds being among the 14 lowest-scoring rounds in program history.

The lowest of UCF’s three rounds, a 273 (15-under) in round two, tied its lowest single-round score of the season and third-lowest in program history.

The Knights also bring home the individual title courtesy of sophomore Mila Jurine, who earned the first individual crown of her career. The Frenchwoman surged to the top of the leaderboard with a pair of eagles in the final round en route to a 66 (6-under). Her final score for the tournament, 204 (12-under), ranks as the seventh-lowest individual 54-hole score in program history.

Jurine’s final round also helped her leapfrog one of her teammates, junior Molly Smith, who settled into a tie for second place three strokes back of the lead at 207 (9-under).

Freshman Tiffany Tsai made it three Knights in the Top 10 thanks to a 66 (6-under) of her own, just in the second round. However, thanks to shooting even par to bookend her tournament, she ended up in a tie for seventh overall at 210 (6-under).

All six of UCF’s golfers in the tournament finished at even par or better, with both senior Pimpisa Sisutham and freshman Kinga Kusmierska, the latter playing as an individual, coming in a tie for 19th at (3-under) and junior One Kashima finishing in a tie for 37th at 216 (even par).

The Knights wrap up their fall slate with the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, North Carolina, from Oct. 24-26.

Men’s Tennis Vies For NCAA Tournament Spots

The UCF Men’s Tennis team got its first opportunity to compete for NCAA Individual Tournament spots this week at the ITA Southeast Regionals in Gainesville.

For one of the Knights’ players to earn a spot in an NCAA Individual Championship, they needed to be one of two singles play finalists or a doubles champion.

Sophomore Clement Lemire, a transfer from Oregon, ended up reaching the farthest of his UCF teammates, winning three matches to make it to the quarterfinals before getting eliminated by the tournament’s #2-seed, and #32 player in the nation, Hugo Carr of South Florida, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Freshman Pedro Rodrigues, making his UCF debut, rated as the tournament’s #5 seed, also made it far, winning twice to make it to the Round of 16 before getting bested by #9-seed, and #116 in the nation, Luis Felipe Miguel of Florida State, 6-1 6-7(5-7), 6-3.

Meanwhile, in doubles play, senior Paul Colin and junior Wissam Abderrahman, a Clemson transfer, also made it to the Round of 16 before getting eliminated by the tournament’s #8-seed, and #80 doubles pair in the nation, Andreas Scott and Enrique Pena of North Florida, 8-3.

Check out the tournament’s draws here for the Knights’ full results.

UCF’s next and final opportunity to earn NCAA Individual Tournament spots is at the ITA South Sectionals tournament in Athens, Georgia, from Nov. 6-9.