On a beautiful Thursday evening at Hodges Stadium, UNF women’s soccer suffered its first home loss, dropping a 2-0 result to the UCF Knights.
Looking to stay unbeaten at home, the Ospreys were even with the UCF Knights in the first frame, but struggled scoring in both halves, mustering only four shots in 90 minutes.
Despite the Osprey’s early-season struggles, which include three shutout losses, UNF was unbeaten at Hodges Stadium before tonight’s match. Albeit a small sample size (1-0-1), the Ospreys are no strangers to long home unbeaten streaks.
Last year, the Ospreys went unbeaten at home in the regular season, but lost in the ASUN Quarterfinals to Eastern Kentucky, ending UNF’s season-long streak. Still, heading into UNF’s loss to UCF, the Ospreys hadn’t lost a regular-season match since 2023.
Therefore, even if someone compared UCF and UNF’s records, it would be tough to count UNF out when at the friendly confines of Hodges Stadium.
First Half
Like many soccer matches, the first several minutes consisted of both teams passing the ball around and getting a feel of each other’s tendencies. In the early minutes, the Knights registered multiple shots by moving around UNF players.
However, most of UCF’s early shots were over or to the right of the crossbar, far enough for UNF’s goalie to put their hands on the ball. During the middle portion, this changed for both teams.
Fifteen minutes into the half, UCF almost had its first goal, firing a shot that was grasped by UNF goalie Chrissa Avery, who finished the game with a career high of eight saves.
Head coach Eric Faulconer applauded the redshirt freshman.
“She’s super athletic, she’s experienced…” Faulconer said. “She was superb tonight.”
Overall, UCF dominated the shot scoreboard early on, with eight shots attempted compared to North Florida’s one.
For the next ten-plus minutes, UNF played a bend but didn’t break defense, staying close to UCF players and kicking balls out of bounds to set up their defense. After UCF reached double-digit shots in minute 24, there were no shots attempted for the remainder of the half.
Besides corner kicks for each team, amounting to no shot or real threat, the half ended as a defensive slugfest. Ultimately, UNF entered their locker room tied with a Power Four school, only one UCF mistake away from pulling off the upset.
Second Half
The final frame was more of the same, at least for the first ten minutes. In the 55th minute, UCF broke the scoreless tie, launching a straight shot through the net. From that point on, it was all Knights.
“Because the first goal, we needed to step to the ball, and it was a great shot, but we didn’t step to the ball,” Faulconer said.
With 30 minutes remaining, time was running out for the Ospreys trying to keep its regular season home unbeaten streak alive. Struggling to find an offensive attack, UNF attempted zero shots in the frame’s first 20 minutes.
On paper, with corner kicks and shot attempts, UCF was clearly more aggressive offensively, but UNF was still only down one goal. But if a team is struggling to create scoring chances, it’s going to be difficult to come back.
In the 73rd minute, UNF sophomore Sarah Frazer committed a yellow card, prompting a UCF free kick. Taking advantage of the opportunity, UCF doubled its lead, cementing the dagger for Central Florida.
Following the game, Faulconer credited his team for battling, something he said they didn’t do in their previous loss.
“We make this effort tonight, we’re going to win a lot of games,” he said.
UNF drops to 2-5-2, while UCF improves to 6-1. The Ospreys will begin conference play, remaining at home to host West Georgia on Sept. 18. North Florida’s ASUN season kicks off at 7 p.m.
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