Women’s Soccer Minutes Shy of Result at No. 22 UCF

Sunday, August 27

Orlando, Fla.

5 p.m.

University of North Florida

1-2-1, 0-0-0

UCF

2-1-0, 0-0-0

North Florida

UCF

Paige McSwigan dribbling against Florida

McSwigan tallied her first goal in the Navy and Gray tonight at UCF.

Photo by: Todd Drexler

8/27/2023 11:37:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

McSwigan Scores Equalizer Before Knights Get the Winning Tally in the 72nd Minute

ORLANDO - North Florida women's soccer nearly came away with a result against No. 22 UCF, getting an equalizer from Paige McSwigan in the 69th minute, but UCF replied and scored the game winner minutes later in a 2-1 hard-fought loss Sunday, Aug. 27.

UCF was winners against Purdue earlier this year and coming off a season that nearly saw it beat the eventual NCAA champs in UCLA. The contest marked UNF's first of two regular season matches against a P5 team and first contest against the in-state opponent since 2013.

No. 22 UCF 2, UNF 1
Goals
14' | Moreno (Asenjo, Martin) - UCF
69' | McSwigan (Dadah, Weiss) - UNF
72' | Netzel (Watson, Homann) - UCF

Inside the Match

First Half: UNF withstood some UCF chances early on .. the Knights opened the scoring after a cross into the box found the foot of Ellie Moreno for a goal in the 14th minute … Kayla Bond put up UNF's first shot, an attempt that went left of the goal in the 26th minute … the score remained 1-0 heading into the break.
Second Half: UNF remained behind by the slimmest of margins until Lauren Weiss connected with Jersi Dadah on the wing … the forward hooked a ball perfectly on the mark for McSwigan to put away and tie things at 1-1 in the 69th minute … unfortunate for the visitors, UCF won an aerial ball of its own in the 72nd minute, getting the winner from Chloe Netzel … the Ospreys couldn't get a look late as UCF held on.

Leaders By the Numbers
UNF

Paige McSwigan | 1 goal, 1 shot, 27 minutes
Zara Siassi | 90 minutes
Jersi Dadah | 36 minutes, 1 assist
Sarah Barrentine | 90 minutes, 3 saves
Lauren Weiss | 1 assist, 58 minutes

UCF

Ellie Moreno | 1 goal, 2 shots, 70 minutes
Chloe Netzel | 1 goal, 1 shot, 35 minutes
Homann, Asenjo, Martin, Watson | 1 assist

Postgame Comments

Went toe to toe with a ranked UCF team here in August. Get @CoachEFaulconer's comments following the match #SoarHigher pic.twitter.com/ipyl3mugU0
— UNF Women's Soccer (@OspreyWSOC) August 27, 2023

Notes

Avery Raimondo and Brielle Maloney both earned their first-career starts
It was the first meeting between UNF and UCF since 2013
It was UNF's first match against a ranked team since facing a ranked USF team in 2021
UCF had earned a 1-0 road win at Purdue earlier this year, while coming up a goal short at UGA
The Knights fell in PKs to the eventual champs in UCLA during the 2022 NCAA Championship
All four of UNF's regular season contests, and five after including the UF exhibition, have been against Group of Five or Power Five foes
UCF was the first P5 foe in UNF's regular season schedule
Weiss upped her assist total to two on the year, tying Raimondo for the team lead
The last two contests have been against teams playing in their home openers
North Florida played over 20 student-athletes for the fourth-consecutive match
Barrentine made three saves in goal
Siassi was the only non-keeper to log 90 minutes played on the UNF side of the pitch. Allyna Thurston was near behind with 83 minutes, while Maloney earned a career-high 72 minutes on the field
McSwigan's goal came in a role off the bench after starting the first three matches