TicketsCINCINNATI - Madison Less recorded a career-high seven saves to anchor the University of Cincinnati women's soccer team to a scoreless draw with visiting #14 UCF Thursday night in the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams at Gettler Stadium. The tie saw the Bearcats move to 6-1-2 overall on the year while the Knights, playing their first match since September 3 because of Hurricane Irma, moved to 4-1-1 overall.
The Bearcats, coming off their first loss of the season last week at LSU (1-0), finished the match with nine shots to UCF's 15, marking just the second time UC has been out-shot this season (1-0-1 in those matches). Defensively, Less' performance was clutch for the Bearcats as she recorded seven saves, bettering her previous best of four stops at LSU last week.
// QUICK NOTES
• The Bearcats moved to 6-1-2 on the year while UCF moved to 4-1-1 overall
• The series remains tied at 3-3-2
• UC moved to 0-0-2 in overtime matches this year after tying Pittsburgh, 2-2, earlier this year
• The Bearcats are now 4-0-2 at home in 2017
• UC is now 11-11-2 all-time in its first conference match of the season and 8-11-5 in their first home conference match of the year
• The tie marks the second year in a row that UC's first home conference match of the year ended in a 0-0 draw (vs. Houston)
• Madison Less recorded a career-high seven saves in goal, improving her previous best of four (at LSU, 9/14/17)
• Vanessa Gilles started her 71st career match, leaving her one shy of the 10th-most in program history
• Senior Lizzie Ehrnfelt made her season debut for the Bearcats and played 16 minutes in her return
Both teams raced up and down the pitch much of the night with neither back line conceding many solid chances. In the first half, UCF had the first attempt of the night as they launched a shot from distance that Less easily gobbled up. Then, in the 25', Jill Vetere had a great look on goal, but her shot just went wide to keep the match scoreless. The Knights had another good chance in the final minutes of the first half as they got in close to the goal and took a shot from five feet out the Less slid in front of and blocked away to keep zeros on the board.
Following the intermission, it was the Bearcats' turn for another close attempt and it came in the 67'. First, Taylor Pavlika played the ball in from outside the box and saw it bounce off the crossbar. From there, Sophie Gorman fired a shot from close range only to see UCF keeper Vera Varis make the save to keep UC off the board.
The biggest threat of the night, however, came in the 78'. UC earned a free kick from the right side with Pavlika playing the ball into the box. The UCF keeper came off her line to try and clear the ball away, but Vanessa Gilles got her head to it first and sent a shot looping into the air. It came down near the line with Vetere hitting the ball with her head and into the net, but the goal was waved off as offsides was whistled on the Bearcats.
In the 85', UCF took another crack at breaking the scoreless draw with a shot that rung off the crossbar and back into the field of play before the Bearcats sent the ball flying to clear the danger away. In overtime, it was more of the same as UCF, just three minutes into the extra session, hit the crossbar again. Then, in the 99', Vetere nearly got the winner, but her shot just missed wide and the match would end up scoreless.
// NEXT MATCH
The Bearcats are back in action Sunday at noon (not the usual 1 p.m.) when they welcome USF to Gettler Stadium.
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
GoBearcats.com is your one-stop destination for all things UC Athletics. Socially, the team can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with all using the handle GoBearcatsWSOC. Head Coach Neil Stafford (@UCGaffer) also can be followed on Twitter.
// EXPERIENCE UC
The University of Cincinnati department of athletics announced an initiative entitled Experience UC, geared toward inviting the community to campus to see firsthand the great things about and surrounding the university. Experience UC includes complimentary admission for patrons attending women's basketball, lacrosse, volleyball, women's tennis, men's and women's soccer, swimming and diving and track and field home events.
The Bearcats, coming off their first loss of the season last week at LSU (1-0), finished the match with nine shots to UCF's 15, marking just the second time UC has been out-shot this season (1-0-1 in those matches). Defensively, Less' performance was clutch for the Bearcats as she recorded seven saves, bettering her previous best of four stops at LSU last week.
// QUICK NOTES
• The Bearcats moved to 6-1-2 on the year while UCF moved to 4-1-1 overall
• The series remains tied at 3-3-2
• UC moved to 0-0-2 in overtime matches this year after tying Pittsburgh, 2-2, earlier this year
• The Bearcats are now 4-0-2 at home in 2017
• UC is now 11-11-2 all-time in its first conference match of the season and 8-11-5 in their first home conference match of the year
• The tie marks the second year in a row that UC's first home conference match of the year ended in a 0-0 draw (vs. Houston)
• Madison Less recorded a career-high seven saves in goal, improving her previous best of four (at LSU, 9/14/17)
• Vanessa Gilles started her 71st career match, leaving her one shy of the 10th-most in program history
• Senior Lizzie Ehrnfelt made her season debut for the Bearcats and played 16 minutes in her return
Both teams raced up and down the pitch much of the night with neither back line conceding many solid chances. In the first half, UCF had the first attempt of the night as they launched a shot from distance that Less easily gobbled up. Then, in the 25', Jill Vetere had a great look on goal, but her shot just went wide to keep the match scoreless. The Knights had another good chance in the final minutes of the first half as they got in close to the goal and took a shot from five feet out the Less slid in front of and blocked away to keep zeros on the board.
Following the intermission, it was the Bearcats' turn for another close attempt and it came in the 67'. First, Taylor Pavlika played the ball in from outside the box and saw it bounce off the crossbar. From there, Sophie Gorman fired a shot from close range only to see UCF keeper Vera Varis make the save to keep UC off the board.
The biggest threat of the night, however, came in the 78'. UC earned a free kick from the right side with Pavlika playing the ball into the box. The UCF keeper came off her line to try and clear the ball away, but Vanessa Gilles got her head to it first and sent a shot looping into the air. It came down near the line with Vetere hitting the ball with her head and into the net, but the goal was waved off as offsides was whistled on the Bearcats.
In the 85', UCF took another crack at breaking the scoreless draw with a shot that rung off the crossbar and back into the field of play before the Bearcats sent the ball flying to clear the danger away. In overtime, it was more of the same as UCF, just three minutes into the extra session, hit the crossbar again. Then, in the 99', Vetere nearly got the winner, but her shot just missed wide and the match would end up scoreless.
// NEXT MATCH
The Bearcats are back in action Sunday at noon (not the usual 1 p.m.) when they welcome USF to Gettler Stadium.
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
GoBearcats.com is your one-stop destination for all things UC Athletics. Socially, the team can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with all using the handle GoBearcatsWSOC. Head Coach Neil Stafford (@UCGaffer) also can be followed on Twitter.
// EXPERIENCE UC
The University of Cincinnati department of athletics announced an initiative entitled Experience UC, geared toward inviting the community to campus to see firsthand the great things about and surrounding the university. Experience UC includes complimentary admission for patrons attending women's basketball, lacrosse, volleyball, women's tennis, men's and women's soccer, swimming and diving and track and field home events.