The No. 19/21 UCF women’s soccer slid into first place in the American Athletic Conference standings on Sunday afternoon thanks to its 1-0 victory at Louisville.
With the win, the Knights (11-2-2, 4-0-1) extended their unbeaten streak to 11-straight games and derailed the Cardinals (9-4-1, 5-1-0) from their five-match win streak.
Both teams were picked as the favorite in The American’s coaches’ preseason poll, but it was UCF who came out on top in the first meeting between the two schools in program history.
UCF midfielder Jennifer Martin lifted her team to victory with the lone goal of the game, beating a defender inside the box in the 20th minute.
“It was created by good possession and good patience. Jenn had some space and she just buried it,” UCF head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak said. “I think this was one of our top performances of the year. It was a good comeback from Friday because we were a little let down by our performance but we were able to fix the things that we didn’t do well. We all agreed as a team that it’s about personal responsibility and commitment, and the fact that they recognized that and put it into action was really the difference.”
Sophomore Connie Organ subbed in after halftime and recorded a career-high five saves to secure UCF’s seventh shutout of the year.
UCF returns to Orlando for its final two home games of the regular season, hosting Rutgers on Friday at 7 p.m. before meeting former Conference USA rival Memphis at 1 p.m. Sunday.