The UCF Women’s Soccer is set to host Maine for their first NCAA Tournament match since 2022 on Friday night.
It marks the first time the Knights (11-3-5, 5-1-5 Big 12), who were given a 7-seed, have hosted an NCAA Tournament match since 2017. It’s also the sixth NCAA Tournament appearance of Head Coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak’s tenure in Orlando.
Hear her reaction to the Knights’ selection below:
Learn more about the Knights’ first-round matchup below:
7-seed UCF Knights (RPI #30)
Sahaydak said that this season’s Knights squad
reminded her a lot of her 2022 team, the last one to make the NCAA Tournament.
“They’re all winners,” Sahaydak said. “They’re all competitors. They all hold each other to a really high standard.”
The Knights have stood out in the Big 12 with their defense, ranking second in the conference in save percentage (83%) and third in goals allowed per game with 0.79. Both of these come courtesy of All-Big 12 Second Team Goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson, who marked her first full season with the Knights in 2025.
“We knew that’s what she needed to gain confidence, just get those reps, the familiarity with her teammates,” Sahaydak said. “We knew that could be a game-changer for her and for us. So, we’re really proud of her. She’s grown tremendously this season.”
On offense, a pair of transfer forwards in Liz Worden, UCF’s lone All-Big 12 First Teamer, and Rajanah Reed, an All-Big 12 Second Teamer, have anchored the Knights, accounting for half of the team’s total goals this season with seven apiece.
Reed, arriving from Washington State, ranks third in the conference in shot accuracy with 54.2% of her shots being on target. Meanwhile, Worden, formerly of Long Beach State, not only has tallied seven goals but also nine assists, the fourth-most in the Big 12.
Meanwhile, the midfield is anchored by a pair of All-Big Second Teamers, Honoka Hamano and Maria Tregansin. Hamano has been a secondary offensive threat for the Knights, with a 58.8% shot-on-goal percentage, four goals and five assists, but Tregansin’s contributions were more quiet, as Sahaydak described them.
“We know her value, but sometimes I don’t know if other people recognize her value, because she does it in a quiet manner,” Sahaydak said.
Maine Black Bears (RPI #142)
The Knights’ first-round opponent is the America East Conference’s champion, Maine. Friday marks the first meeting between the two programs.
The Black Bears (6-7-2, 3-3-2 America East), led by 27th-year head coach Scott Athlerley, were the 4-seed in the America East Tournament, but captured the conference’s automatic bid after upsetting 1-seed Binghampton in double overtime and then 2-seed Vermont on penalty kicks in the championship match. Their signature result of the season is a 2-2 draw on the road against Army.
Maine is a team that likes to make a goalkeeper work. No player is credited with more than three of its 22 goals this season. It’s also ranked in the Top 100 in the nation in both shots per game and shots on goal per game.
Midfielder Elena Reinwald captured the team’s highest conference honor by being named All-America East Second Team.
The Knights kick off against the Black Bears at 7 p.m. on Friday.
