Tulsa Women Fall to No. 23 UCF

The Tulsa women's soccer team dropped a 4-1 decision to 23rd-ranked UCF on Sunday afternoon at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium. TU fell to 7-4-1 on the season and 1-1 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Knights moved to 9-2 overall and 2-0 in the league.

“It wasn't our best effort by any means, but we knew UCF was going to be a tough team and that they are ranked for a reason,” Head Coach Kyle Cussen said. “They pressed hard from the very start. I thought the goals were preventable, but we need to play better. There are things we can work on, but we don't have much time to do that before we leave for Temple and UConn.”

Ashley Spivey gave the Knights an early 1-0 lead off a cross from Tatiana Coleman with just 3:16 off the clock, but Christina Holmes evened the score in the 32nd minute as she punched in a goal from 12 yards out off a pass from Lauren King.

Jennifer Martin put UCF ahead once again in the 34th minute as she drilled in a rebound attempt from Spivey, and then Kayla Darden tallied a goal at the 43:03 mark to put the Knights up 3-1 at the break.

In the second frame, Darden scored again off a combination play at the 59:50 mark for the final 4-1 score.

The Knights had a 19-4 lead in shots, including a 10-3 advantage in shots on goal, and a 4-1 lead in corner kicks.

Holmes, Madison Smith and Lauren King all had a shot on goal, while Alexa Sidorakis also added one attempt. Courtney McKeon logged all 90 minutes in goal and picked up six saves.

Tulsa will return to action on Thursday, Oct. 2nd against Temple. Game time is set for 3 p.m. Central in Philadelphia, Pa.