When the ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ womenβs soccer team lost starting defenders Brooke Mulroney and Kalena Bellini to devastating injuries within days of each other at the start of Big 12 Conference play in September, it would have been easy for outsiders to write off the Knights. Especially after the team lost a road game at Arizona, 1-0, on their first outing without Mulroney and Bellini on the field.
Their mentality? Donβt tell us the odds.
βI told the team from the very beginning, no successful team goes through any journey that is easy. This is part of our journey,β ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak says. βHow are we going to respond to this? You have the ability to go out there and play for them. Believe in how good you are. Visualize doing great things and the rest will follow.β
From that point on, the Knights closed the regular season with a nine-match unbeaten streak, helping them clinch the No. 7 seed and hosting rights in the NCAA Tournament.
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ will hold a first-round game on Friday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. at the ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ Soccer Complex against Maine, who just won its third-straight America East championship title.
The Knights are one of a conference-record eight teams from the Big 12 selected to participate in this yearβs NCAA Tournament.
βAfter what we went through on a weekly basis in the Big 12 this year β a historical year with how many teams earned postseason bids β what excites me as we head into the NCAA Tournament is weβve seen the best in the country. We are part of that,β Roberts Sahaydak says. βObviously itβs one game at a time, and that starts with Maine, but the team should be feeling really confident because they are prepared from the physical and tactical and mental tests theyβve had all season.β
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βS NCAA Tournament History
This yearβs postseason appearance will mark ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs first as a member of the Big 12 Conference and first since 2022 when the Knights advanced to the tournamentβs second round.
Fridayβs home match will mark the 11th time that ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ has hosted an NCAA Tournament First Round competition and the programβs first since 2017.
In all, it will be the programβs 23rd all-time appearance in the NCAA Division I Championship. ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ ranks among the NCAAβs top 25 winningest teams nationally since the inception of Division I womenβs soccer in 1982.
Tickets/Broadcast Info
General admission tickets are $10 and can be at ucfknights.com. The first 100 ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ students with valid ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ ID will receive free entry (first come, first serve). Stadium gates open at 6 p.m.
The match will air on ESPN+.
