Oct. 23, 2014

The University of Cincinnati women’s soccer team travels to Florida for arguably the biggest weekend of the season with matches against USF and No. 17 UCF.

The Bearcats (10-5-2, 4-3-0 American) first kickoff the weekend in Tampa, Florida on Friday night against the Bulls (9-6-1, 4-3-0 American), who is currently tied with UC in the league standings with 12 points. Cincinnati then travels to Orlando, Florida to clash with the Knights (13-3-0, 6-1-0 American), who are the defending conference champions and currently top-ranked team in the American.

// FIGHTING FOR HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE
With this weekend being the final of the regular season, a lot of programs are fighting for seeds and home-field advantage in the conference tournament. The top four seeds will host a quarterfinals match at their home field before heading to Tampa, Florida for the semifinals and finals. Currently, UCF sits atop the standings with 18 points, and Memphis is second with 14. Jumbled up in a tie for third is UC, USF, UConn and East Carolina.

// SCOUTING THE BULLS
USF enters the weekend on a two-match winning streak after shutting out both UConn and Temple on the road last weekend. The Bulls are an aggressive team that leads the league in offside calls and yellow cards. Olivia Chance is the team’s leading scorer with eight goals and two assist for 18 points, which ranks fifth in the American. Katarina Elliott is USF’s top goalkeeper with a goals against average of 0.80 and a save percentage of .818.

// UC-USF SERIES
Cincinnati holds a 9-8-1 all-time record against the Bulls. The two have faced off against one another every year since 1996 with UC claiming a 3-2 victory at home last season. The Bearcats have only won three matches in Tampa with the last being a 2-1 win in 2008.

// SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
UCF enters the weekend as the league’s top program, but they are coming off their first conference loss in over two seasons after UConn trumped the Knights last Sunday. The Knights are led offensive by Tatiana Coleman who has nine goals and eight assist for 26 points, which ranks second in the league. Connie Organ is UCF’s top netminder with nine shutouts, a goals against average of 0.50 and a save percentage of .822.

// UC-UCF SERIES
UCF holds a 1-2-1 advantage in the all-time series after the two tied 1-1 at Gettler Stadium last fall, which was the first meeting between the two since 1987. The Bearcats’ lone win over the Knights came in 183 with a 3-2 triumph at home.

// REBUILDING TO NEW HEIGHTS
The Bearcats garnered their 10^th win of the season this past Sunday, which makes it the first time UC has had double-digit victories since 2008 and only the second time since 2002. Cincinnati now looks to accomplish another rare feat by reaching five league wins, which also hasn’t happened since 2008.

// HAVING A SCORING MENTALITY
UC has been a force offensively this season and currently has the 25^th highest scoring offense in the nation and first in the conference averaging 2.29 goals per match. Stafford’s team has tallied 39 goals, which ranks 15^th nationally, and 38 assists, which is 10^th in the nation. The goals total is the program’s highest since 2000 (50), and the assists total is the most since 1996 (54).

// LIKE A GOOD TEAMMATE, ATKINSON IS THERE
Senior Jae Atkinson has been an integral part of the Bearcats’ offense this season with being the team’s facilitator on most set pieces. She has racked up a total of 11 assists, which is tied for fifth nationally and moves her into a tie for second in UC single season history with Tina Matlock (1996). The school record is 17 held by Vicki Niemann (1982). Atkinson also sits eighth in the career records with 17 assists.

// SHARING THE LIMELIGHT
Cincinnati is fortunate to have a number of scoring options on the team with five players having double-digit points on the season. The last time this happened was 2001. Leading the team in points are Atkinson, Katy Couperus and Danielle Rotheram with 15 points each. The last time UC had three players with 15 or more points in the same year was 2002.

// HAPPY 35^TH BIRTHDAY
The 2014 season marks the 35^th year of UC women’s soccer as a varsity sport. The Program began in 1980 and is the second-oldest in Ohio to Denison University. Cincinnati has an overall record of 344-259-49 (56.5%).