GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Senior Chloe Netzel scored her second brace of the young season to lead UCF to a 2-2 tie with Florida on Sunday night at Donald R. Dizney Stadium. With the result, the Knights remain undefeated this season and in their last five games against the Gators.
“Florida is a good team and has a very different style than us. I thought we handled that well and scored some good goals,” said UCF head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak. “Overall, we’re undefeated this season, so we’ve got to keep our heads up and stay true to who we are. We just have to keep going.”
The Black and Gold (1-0-2) applied pressure in the early going, and Emily Thompson played a pass forward to Netzel on the left, and Netzel continued her bright start to the season with a left-footed shot to the far side of the goal. The goal came in the 17th minute and gave UCF an early 1-0 lead.
Chloe with her 4th strike of the season, which gives us the early lead 😀 pic.twitter.com/wZGZkdr8vo
— UCF Women’s Soccer (@UCF_WSoccer) 25 August 2024
Later, with the score tied 1-1 in the second half, Netzel again fired a shot from the left side of the box to the other side of the goal for her second brace of her career and this season, giving the Knights a 2-1 lead in the 60th minute. Mia Asenjo was credited with an assist on that play when she fed Netzel for the Preseason All-Big 12 honoree’s fifth goal of the season.
CHLOE NETZEL with her left foot for her second goal of the game to make it 2-1 💥 pic.twitter.com/nV7V4Cccr0
— UCF Women’s Soccer (@UCF_WSoccer) 26 August 2024
“We’re doing a great job finding Chloe right now,” added Roberts Sahaydak. “She’s one of the best players in the country and if we can keep getting the ball under her feet, she’ll keep scoring goals. It’s great to have a player like her.”
However, the Gators (1-0-2) countered again ten minutes later when Sophie White broke free in the penalty area and equalized in the 70th minute.
The Knights had a few good chances from Netzel in the final phase, but also a few questionable offside decisions, so the game ended in a 2-2 draw.
“Our team knows exactly when to go forward and I’m just happy that I was able to take advantage of some of those opportunities,” Netzel said. “This team has a lot of fighting spirit. Even when we’re behind, we keep fighting for the full 90 minutes. We’ll be ready to go back on the bench next Sunday against Georgia and fight again.”
As early as the eighth minute of the first half, the Knights had a chance through Honoka Hamano, who broke free on the right side and shot the ball towards the near side of the goal, but UF’s Alexa Goldberg saved with a diving save.
After a 50-minute weather-related stoppage in the first half due to lightning in the area, play resumed in the 31st minute. After a Gators foul just outside the box, Annika Huhta had a good chance for the Knights and lifted her shot over traffic, but the ball sailed just over the crossbar, keeping the score at 1-0.
As time expired at the end of the first half, UF’s Delaney Tellex played a pass over the top to Vera Blom, who put the ball in the net to tie the game in the 43rd minute. The referee checked video to see if Blom was offside, but the goal counted since the score was 1-1 at halftime.
Netzel gave the Black and Golds the lead in the second half, but Florida’s Whites were able to equalize again and thus lead to a draw.
Both sides finished the night with seven shots on goal and had five saved each, including a nice save by new goalkeeper Sami Lipcon in the 84th minute.
With the tie, UCF is now 4-0-1 against UF in the last five meetings between the in-state rivals. The Knights have also outscored the Gators by an impressive 12-2 during that stretch.
The Black and Gold now return home to face No. 16 Georgia for Senior Knight on Sunday, Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. at the UCF Soccer Complex. After next Sunday’s game, UCF travels to Tampa to face South Florida in their final nonconference game of the season on Thursday, Sept. 5.
Thanks to another brace from Chloe, we are unbeaten in our last five games against UF❗ pic.twitter.com/5Fy1QRpkBs
— UCF Women’s Soccer (@UCF_WSoccer) 26 August 2024
