In case you missed it, the Tuskers lost the UFL title game against the Las Vegas Locomotives 23-20 while the Montreal Alouettes defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 21-18 for the CFL title.

Former UCF football player Keith Shologan finished out his season with Saskatchewan at defensive tackle, making 30 tackles and recording three sacks. Former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson and former Florida quarterback Chris Leak saw playing time this season for Montreal.

– Rollins Soccer Caught In Snowstorm –

The most surprising thing about the Rollins College men’s soccer team playing in the Division II National Championship game this past Saturday was not that they qualified in the first place, but rather the weather conditions they were forced to play in. If you’ve yet to see it, check out the video highlights at NCAA. The Tars lost 3-2 to Northern Kentucky in weather more suitable for a football game, of the American kind.

The Rollins College roster featured several local high school alumni, including seniors Chris Cummings (Ocala St. John Lutheran), Stephen Wright (Winter Park), Bradley Welch (Cypress Creek) and Blade Zych (Lake Brantley). Plenty of local talent returns for next season. View the Tars roster at Rollins Sports.

– High School Football Finals Take Shape –

The high school football state finals begin this weekend at the Citrus Bowl with four games taking place between teams in the lower classifications.

Friday’s finals include Warner Christian Academy vs. Glades Day in Class 1B at 1 p.m., and Trinity Christian Academy vs. American Heritage in Class 1A at 7 p.m. On Saturday it’s Trinity Catholic vs. University School of NSU in Class 2B at 1 p.m., and Cocoa vs. Glades Central in Class 2A at 7 p.m.

The marquee prep football game of the weekend, though, is the Class 6A semifinal between favored Dr. Phillips at Seminole on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The state title games for classes 3A-6A take place Dec. 17-18.

A complete lineup is available at FHSAA.

– College Football Bowl Games Announced –

On Sunday the NCAA announced this season’s bowl game matchups, including the opponent for UCF at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn. and the matchups for both contests in Orlando at the Florida Citrus Bowl.

UCF (10-3) is ranked No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and will take on Georgia (6-6) on Dec. 31 at 3:30 p.m. The Knights faced the Bulldogs just once before, losing 24-23 in Athens during a regular season game in 1999. UCF Coach George O’Leary previously faced Georgia on seven different occasions as head coach at Georgia Tech. UCF lost its only trip to the Liberty Bowl against Mississippi State 10-3 following the 2007 season.

Florida Citrus Sports chose to pair West Virginia (9-3) against N.C. State (8-4) in the Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 28 at 6:30 p.m., and Alabama (9-3) against Michigan State (11-1) in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1 at 1 p.m.

Check back for plenty more coverage of the upcoming bowl season.

– Magic’s Dwight Howard Best In November –

You see where Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for November?

He finished fifth in the Conference in scoring (21.8 points per game) and third in the league with a .594 shooting percentage. Howard also ranked fourth in the league in rebounds (12.1) while helping get the Magic off to a 13-4 start. It’s the fifth time in Howard’s career that he’s earned the league’s Eastern Conference monthly honor, also doing do in April 2006, November 2006, November 2007 and December 2007.

Among the highlights for Howard last month were:

Nov. 3 vs. Minnesota: Recorded 18 points, 16 rebounds and a season-high eight blocks in a 128-86 win over the Timberwolves.

Nov. 5 vs. New Jersey: Tallied 30 points and 16 rebounds in a 105-90 victory over the Nets.

Nov. 24 vs. Miami: Registered 24 points to go along with 18 rebounds in a 111-100 victory over the Heat.

Nov. 27 @ Washington: Compiled a season-high 32 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and hit the game-winning  shot to defeat the Wizards by a score of 100-99.

– UCF Men’s Basketball Out To Fast Start –

The UCF men’s basketball team is out to a 7-0 start for the first time at the Division I level, meaning the Knights have yet to lose under new head coach Donnie Jones. For their efforts, UCF has received votes in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls for the first time since 2006.

On Saturday, following the football team’s Conference USA championship win, the hoops team did away with Southeastern Louisiana 74-49.

Sophomore Keith Clanton tied the school record for blocks in a game when he turned away eight shots in the win. Clanton also finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds, which ties his career high. Tony Davis also blocked eight shots on Dec. 1, 2007 against USF. John Friday blocked seven shots in a game twice in January 1987.

The Knights play again on Saturday, Dec. 11 at UCF Arena against Bethune-Cookman at 5 p.m.

– Edgewater & Timber Creek Alumni In D-II Title Game –

Edgewater High School alum Kaleigh Cunningham finished her collegiate volleyball career as an outside hitter with Tampa in the Division II National Championship on Saturday in Louisville.

Tampa (31-4), who went 15-1 in the Sunshine State Conference, dropped the title match 25-23, 23-25, 26-24, 25-10 to four-time defending champion Concordia-St. Paul (32-4). (See footage at NCAA)

Cunningham finished the season with 313 kills, 220 digs and 12 service aces. Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Yingling (Timber Creek) finished with 266 kills, 369 digs, 25 aces and 24 blocks for Tampa.

– Former UCF Women’s Soccer Player In D-III Title Game –

Former UCF women’s soccer player Alex Brandt finished her sophomore season at Messiah College with an appearance in the Division III National Championship.

Messiah (24-1) lost 2-1 to Hardin-Simmons (24-0-1). Brandt was credited with her 13th assist on the season with 15 minutes to play, when she set up Alicia Frey just outside the box for a goal. (See footage at NCAA)

Brandt, who was named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team in 2009, started in all 25 games this season and scored eight goals as a midfielder. She started 23 games for UCF while finishing the year with two goals and three assists.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

UCF's Kim Newsome (Photo by J.C. Carnahan)

On Sunday at the UCF Soccer Complex the Knights lost a 1-0 heartbreaker in the final minute. Melissa Smith was in position to handle a deflected shot off of UCF goalkeeper Aline Reis before sending her own shot into the far-left corner of the net.

The goal was set up by a free kick from outside the penalty area by Lizzy Simonin, the 2010 C-USA Defensive Player of the Year. It’s an image that will likely stay with UCF senior Kim Newsome for quite some time.

“That was my mark,” Newsome said of Smith. “My keeper had it in her hands… then she lost the ball and I just didn’t follow my mark. That was very emotional personally for me and as well as for the team.

“We felt like we wanted it more and deserved it more but not getting that end result hurts a lot,” she said.

Reis was forced to fend off some contact in the goal box on the initial shot attempt before Memphis was able to put the game away.

“I got hit,” said Reis afterwards. “And also the sun was pretty bad in my face and I actually didn’t see the ball. I still got my hands there but I got hit… it cost us a goal and it cost us the championship.”

Memphis nearly scored 12 minutes into the second half when C-USA Midfielder of the Year Vendula Strnadova bounced a shot off the inside of the crossbar. UCF went back to pressuring the Tigers with a number of shots on goal late in the game, but any real attempt at converting were few and far between.

And so the dark cloud that is Memphis (15-3-3) remains over the UCF (14-4-3) program. The Tigers previously eliminated UCF in the conference title game in 2007 (2-0) and 2009 (3-0), and in the semifinals in 2008 (2-0).

UCF's Tishia Jewell (Photo by J.C. Carnahan)

Only this time around the Knights were closer to that elusive tournament title than ever before until everything changed with just 55 seconds to spare.

“We did enough to win it but it’s just one of those games we couldn’t finish,” said UCF Coach Amanda Cromwell. “We had some quality chances but we didn’t put it away.”

Playing through windy weather conditions, the Knights began the match aggressively over the opening 15 minutes but were unable to capitalize on seven shot attempts in the first half. UCF would finish the day with 15 shots in all, four of which were on goal. C-USA Offensive Player of the Year Tishia Jewell was credited with two of those efforts on goal while Lauren Halbert and Stacie Hubbard also came close to reaching the back of the net.

“We had opportunity after opportunity,” said Jewell. “We didn’t finish it but our defense held strong the entire game.”

Reis finished with three saves. Newsome, Halbert and Bianca Joswiak were named to the all-tournament team.

All that’s left for the Knights is awaiting an announcement from the NCAA on their postseason fate. UCF has reached the second round in each of the last three seasons. The 64-team field will be announced on ESPNU Monday at 4:30 p.m.

– Apopka High School alum and UCF senior Kim Newsome –

– Video Courtesy of Carlos Pineda –

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

Tuskers running back Dominic Rhodes rushed for 111 yards Friday night. (Photo by Scott McCall)

Sports fans had little trouble finding something worthwhile to do with their time on Friday night.

The Orlando Magic hosted New Jersey at the new Amway Center. The Florida Tuskers were caught up in a do-or-die regular season matchup at the Citrus Bowl. Then there was the UCF Knights football team on the road against Houston on ESPN2 while the women’s soccer team hosted the conference tournament semifinals. The men’s soccer team at Rollins College was also involved in a conference semifinal match, in Miami Shores. And it wouldn’t be a Friday night in November without crucial high school football games on the schedule.

While we recover over the weekend, let’s take a quick look back at the busy Friday night that was…

–– High School Football ––

The Florida High School football postseason picture got much clearer on Friday as district titles were won and lost throughout the area.

In the Class 4A-7 title game Edgewater ended the undefeated season for East River 51-13… Olympia came from behind to beat East Ridge 31-24 to finish as Class 6A-5 runners-up behind Apopka… Lake Brantley won 22-20 over Lake Mary to finish as runners-up in Class 6A-3 behind Seminole… Timber Creek won 35-14 over University to finish as runners-up in Class 6A-4 behind Winter Park… With Dr. Phillips having already wrapped up the Class 6A-6 title, Freedom, Oak Ridge and Boone stayed alive for the No. 2 spot. They will decide who gets it on Monday in a tiebreaker… Three teams are still alive for the top two spots in Class 5A-3 as Oviedo, Hagerty and Winter Springs also forced a tiebreaker…

District champs and runners-up advance to playoffs. A complete list of local district standings is available at Varsity Sports. Visit WFTV Channel 9 and Bright House Sports Network for more high school football coverage.

But give it to me straight high school football fans, is there a single team in the state that can mess with the Panthers at Dr. Phillips? Here’s hoping we get to see a postseason matchup between DP and Winter Park, the two unbeaten 6A teams in Orange County.

–– Rollins Men’s Soccer ––

The Tars finished in a tie with Barry at 6-1-1 in the Sunshine State Conference this season but were bounced a day early from the league tournament.

As the No. 2 seed, Rollins was upset on Friday by No. 3 Florida Tech in a match that came down to penalty kicks. A purely miserable way to go out. What makes it worse for the local team is that Stephen Wright put Rollins ahead with a goal in the 25th minute before Florida Tech evened things up in the 53rd minute. And that was while the winning team was playing a man down in the second half. Rollins lost the shootout 3-0.

Surprisingly, Barry was also upset in the semifinals 2-1 by No. 4 Tampa.

Both the men’s and women’s soccer programs at Rollins College have been ranked in the Top-10 over the course of the past month. They find out Monday night if they did enough over the regular season to be invited to the NCAA Division II Soccer Championships.

–– UCF Women’s Soccer ––

Hosting a conference tournament for the first time since 2001, the No. 23 UCF women’s soccer team is in position to make this gathering a memorable one.

Following a 2-0 win over SMU in the Conference USA semis on Friday, UCF is now one victory away from winning its first tourney title. Standing in their way, though, is three-time defending champion Memphis. The title game goes down on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the UCF Soccer Complex. The Knights lost to Memphis in the conference finals in 2007 and 2009.

Senior Kim Newsome scored a goal in the opening minutes of the semifinal match while sophomore Nicolette Radovcic added another in the 29th minute for the Knights.

UCF has won the regular season title four of the past six years and are the No. 1 seed in the field. No. 2 Memphis advanced by defeating Houston 1-0. A loss for the Knights on Sunday would be the equivalent of, say, the football team losing those games to N.C. State and Kansas State earlier this season.

The game will feature C-USA Offensive Player of the Year Tishia Jewell of UCF along with C-USA Defensive Player of the Year Lizzy Simonin and C-USA Midfielder of the Year Vendula Strnadova from Memphis.

–– UCF Football ––

Here’s hoping Top-25 poll voters tuned in for some college football Friday night on ESPN2. The UCF football team made it 11-straight C-USA wins as they improved to 7-2 overall (5-0 in C-USA) with a 40-33 win on the road against Houston.

The win strengthens UCF chances of hosting the conference title game next month. The Knights led by 17 points until the Cougars took a 24-23 lead in the third quarter. UCF would rally, though, then get a defensive stand in the final moments to pull out the win despite giving up 532 total yards to Houston.

UCF quarterback Jeff Godfrey continued his phenomenal freshman season by throwing for 294 yards and two touchdowns on 15 of 19 attempts, while also rushing for 105 yards and another score.

Now, I was one of those guys sticking up for injured quarterback Rob Calabrese earlier in the season, when UCF fans were continuously giving him hell instead of placing blame where it was do – on the offensive line. But that stuff aside, this Godfrey kid is kind of good.

Josh Linam finished with staggering 17 tackles while Bruce Miller (4 tackles) and David Williams (2 tackles) each intercepted passes. Miller took his interception back for a touchdown, for the second time this season, in the first quarter.

UCF hosts Southern Miss (5-2, 2-2) on Saturday at noon in the final regular-season home game at Bright House Networks Stadium. The Knights could be right back there, following two road games to close out the regular season, as hosts of the C-USA title game Dec. 4 against either Houston or SMU.

And for the record, I’m with local columnist Mike Bianchi when it comes to the possibility of UCF joining the Big East. It should either be all the programs getting in, or none at all.

–– Florida Tuskers ––

With backup quarterback Chris Greisen under center the United Football League’s Florida Tuskers kept its postseason hopes alive with a 31-14 win over the Omaha Nighthawks.

An announced crowd of 9,203 was on hand as Florida improved to 3-3 on the year. The Tuskers need wins over the final two weeks to advance to the UFL Championship Game for the second-straight time against Las Vegas.

Greisen, who made a name for himself in the Arena Football League, was taking cues from AFL Hall of Famer and Tuskers Coach Jay Gruden. On Friday he passed for 215 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 23 of 31 attempts in his first processional outdoor start. Dominic Rhodes rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown on just 11 carries and Calvin Russell caught six passes for 61 yards and a score.

Patrick Chukwurah finished with two sacks and three tackles. Keiwan Ratliff and Darrius Vinnett each had six tackles. Ratliff also returned an interception back 29 yards for a touchdown.

The final home game of the season for the Tuskers is on Thursday night at the Citrus Bowl against the Hartford Colonials. If the recent trend holds up, there should be another crowd of less than 9,000 in the stands at that gigantic football playground downtown. With a fan base such as this it’s hard to imagine the Tuskers staying in town for too much longer.

–– Orlando Magic ––

Point guard Jameer Nelson suffered a sprained left ankle late in Friday night’s game against the New Jersey Nets at the Amway Center. Before leaving the game, Nelson went 7-for-12 from the field for 20 points and six assists. It was his best effort since the start of the season. He did not play on Saturday night in Charlotte.

Vince Carter finished with 19 points and five rebounds as Orlando won 105-90. Dwight Howard had another huge game as he scored 30 points and grabbed 16 rebounds while making 12 of 16 attempts from the free throw line to lead the way.

Game highlights and additional analysis available at NBA.com.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

Despite coming out of the regular season as the best conference team in four of the past six seasons, the Knights have yet to win the C-USA Championship.

UCF claimed back-to-back regular season titles with a 6-0 win over Southern Miss on senior night last week. Lauren Halbert, Kacie Horner, Amanda Martorana, Jaclyn Meade, Kim Newsome, Christina Petrucco and Brianna Schooley were all honored before the game.

The attention now turns to the UCF Soccer Complex as the Knights (13-3-3, 8-1-2) host the C-USA Championship starting Wednesday. The event runs through Sunday. UCF and three-time defending C-USA champion Memphis (13-3-3, 7-1-3) start the tournament with first-round byes.

2010 CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONSHIP

Wednesday, November 3

No. 3 Houston (11-4-4, 6-2-3) vs. No. 6 Marshall (7-8-3, 5-5-1) @ 5 p.m.

No. 4 SMU (11-6-3, 6-4-1) vs. No. 5 Rice (8-8-3, 5-3-3) @ 7:30 p.m.

Friday, November 5 (Semifinals)

No. 2 Memphis vs. Houston/Marshall winner @ 5 p.m.

No. 1 UCF vs. SMU/Rice winner @ 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 7 (Finals)

Semifinal Winners @ 2 p.m. on CBS College Sports

The last time the Knights hosted a conference tournament was in 2001 as a member of the Atlantic Sun. UCF is looking to secure its 15th trip to the NCAA Tournament and advance to the postseason for the fourth-straight time.

“Not much separated No. 1-8 in the standings, and it’s crazy how competitive this conference is this year. We went on the road for some very tough games against UAB, Memphis, Colorado College and UTEP and we were 2-1-1 in those matches and that was huge,” said UCF Coach Amanda Cromwell. “We were disappointed in the loss to Colorado College, but I hand it to our players for turning things around. Some of our seniors took that leadership role and that’s why we won the conference.”

The final game of the regular season pushed UCF over the 5,000-fan mark for the first time in program history. In 11 matches this year, 5,858 fans made it out to the UCF Soccer Complex to help break the single-season record of 4,601, which was set last year.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

– UCF Women’s Soccer –

The first Ratings Percentage Index of the season was relesed by the NCAA on Tuesday with the UCF women’s soccer team coming in at No. 14 in the nation out of 322 teams. The RPI is used to help determine the 64-team NCAA postseason field.

In her 12th season, head coach Amanda Cromwell has the Knights out to an 8-2-2 start and 3-0-1 mark in Conference USA. UCF hosts Houston (No. 48 RPI) and Rice (No. 41), who are tied for first place at 4-0-0 in C-USA, this weekend.

– UCF Men’s Soccer –

The win over No. 5 SMU over the weekend garnered the UCF men’s soccer team some attention this week.

Junior midfielder Spencer Scott was named Conference USA Co-Offensive Player of the Week along with Bradlee Baladez of South Carolina, and also earned a spot on the College Soccer News National Team of the Week for his efforts against the Mustangs.

Scott was recognized after scoring the game-winning goal against SMU, his third of the year, to help the Knights earn the first-ever victory over a Top-10 opponent.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

UCF is also ranked No. 25 in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll and No. 3 in the Central Region.

The Knights defeated the Pirates 5-3 on Friday and the Thundering Herd 2-1 on Sunday to improve to 7-2-1 overall and 2-0-0 in C-USA. UCF has advanced to postseason play the past three years and now hold an 11-match conference regular-season winning streak.

Averaging 2.4 goals per match, the team is led by Tishia Jewell (5 goals, 5 assists), Katie Jackson (4 goals, 4 goals), Apopka’s Kim Newsome (4 goals, 3 assists) and Amanda Martorana (2 goals, 4 assists). Aline Reis has allowed just 1.27 goals over eight games with 28 saves.

Before returning home on Oct. 8, the Knights travel to Memphis (7-3-0, 1-1-0) Friday and UAB (4-5-1, 0-1-1) Sunday. The Tigers are the last C-USA team to defeat UCF in the regular season.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

This weekend the 2009 Conference USA regular season champs open league play at home against East Carolina (5-3-0) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Marshall (2-3-2) on Sunday at 1 p.m. They’ll end league play by hosting the C-USA Championship Nov. 3-7, which has been held in Texas ever since UCF joined the conference in 2005.

Despite holding an impressive 39-6-5 mark in conference games and winning three regular season crowns, UCF has yet to bring home the tournament title. It’ll be the first time that the conference tournament was hosted by the Knights since 2001, when they were members of the Atlantic Sun.

“Being at home is going to give us that edge,” hopes head coach Amanda Cromwell. “We’re sick of watching Memphis celebrate the conference tournament.”

And speaking of Memphis (6-2-0), the Tigers join UTEP (7-1-0) as the two schools in C-USA who have been a bit of a thorn in UCF’s side over the years.

– records vs. C-USA competition –

Colorado College – 4-1-1

East Carolina – 5-0-2

Houston – 5-0-0

Marshall – 5-0-0

Memphis – 3-5-0

Rice – 5-1-0

SMU – 5-3-0

Southern Miss – 5-0-0

Tulsa – 4-0-1

UAB – 4-3-1

UTEP – 2-3-1

Before the season got underway Cromwell credited UAB (4-4-0), Rice (3-5-0) and SMU (5-2-2) as being conference teams that have given the Knights some trouble – along with Memphis and UTEP – over the years.

The Knights wrapped up the nonconference portion of the schedule (which ranked as the 15th toughest in the nation to start the season) with a 5-2-1 mark and wins over San Diego State, USF, Virginia Commonwealth, Harvard and No. 19 Arizona State. UCF also tied Arizona and dropped matches against No. 11 Florida and No. 8 Florida State.

Since 1981 there are just 11 teams who have faced the Knights at least 10 times, with many of those opponents coming from right here in the state of Florida. Incidentally, UCF has never lost a match to Stetson and have never been able to pull out a win over North Carolina.

– records vs. familiar opponents –

Barry – 9-0-3 – (last played in 1990)

Campbell – 11-1-1 – (last played in 2004)

Florida – 2-11-1 – (last played in 2010)

Florida Atlantic – 16-5-1 – (last played in 2006)

Florida International – 26-4-3 – (last played in 2009)

Florida State – 3-8-1 – (last played in 2010)

Jacksonville – 9-2-0 – (last played in 2004)

Mercer – 11-1-2 – (last played in 2004)

Miami – 5-4-1 – (last played in 2008)

North Carolina – 0-16-3 – (last played in 2009)

Stetson – 18-0-0 – (last played in 2004)

The 5-0 win over Arizona State on the road last week moved the Knights to No. 23 in the Soccer America poll. Sophomore Tishia Jewell (2 goals, assist vs. ASU) was recognized by College Soccer 360 and named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week, while goalkeeper Aline Reis was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week as well as being recognized by Top Drawer Soccer for their efforts.

Jewell now has four goals on the year with a team-best 12 points to her credit. Reis currently ranks third all-time at UCF with 213 saves and is tied for eighth all-time in program history with 15 shutouts.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

With Conference USA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Aline Reis unable to give it a go in the net because of injury, senior Jaclyn Meade recorded a shutout on six saves in her collegiate debut while sophomore Tishia Jewell scored her first career goal on a play set up by senior Amanda Martorana to end things in the 102nd minute in Tampa.

UCF Coach Amanda Cromwell called last week’s win over the Bulls an emotional one that drained some of her players mentally.

“It was a great team effort and it was important to get this win on the road,” said Cromwell.

UCF caps its nonconference schedule with a home match on Friday against 2009 Ivy League champion Harvard, a road game Sunday Sept. 12 at Florida State, and matches in Tucson on Sept. 17 and 19 against both Arizona and Arizona State.

The Knights recently handed losses to San Diego State (2-0) and Virginia Commonwealth (4-1) to improve to 3-1.

Jewell now has two goals and two assists on the season as Katie Jackson has scored a goal and also assisted on two other shots. Six different UCF players have found the back of the net thus far.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

Things didn’t fare so well for the Knights in the second half though as a lapse on the defensive end allowed Tahnai Annis to turn a scoreless game in Florida’s favor with a goal in the 48th minute. She then found the back of the net nearly five minutes later, after slicing through defenders in the penalty box, to help the Gators turn away UCF by a 2-0 score.

There were an announced 2,141 fans on hand, breaking the previous attendance mark of 1,142 set last season in a win over No. 4 Florida State in overtime. The Knights set a program record in total attendance for a season in 2009 as 4,601 fans attended eight home games a year ago.

“I thought we played great in the first half and that we had more dangerous chances, but then we came out flat in the second half,” said head coach Amanda Cromwell. “It was a great crowd too. I wish we could have given them some goals to celebrate on our end.”

After being outshot 10-6 in the first half, the Knights responded with a slim 7-6 lead in shots in the second half and held a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks in the contest. But it wouldn’t be enough as Florida made its efforts near the goal pay off.

Kristina Trujic and Katie Jackson each took three shots on the night for UCF while goalkeeper Aline Reis made four saves in the loss.

Also: UCF women’s soccer hosts No. 11 Florida on Sunday

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

That season the teams split two games as UCF won 1-0 then fell 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament.

Sunday’s game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Florida.

Whether playing in front of cameras or against Top-25 competition, the Knights embrace the early challenges as they’ve credited such a schedule for preparing them for when it matters most.

“We’ve shown people the last couple of years who we are and what we’re about,” said UCF Coach Amanda Cromwell, who is 158-68-15 since 1994 and was named 2009 Conference USA and Central Region Coach of the Year.

Florida has had to take notice as of late. The series between the two schools is tied at 2-2-1 since 2004 with the Gators holding the all-time series lead at 2-10-1.

“It’s Florida, and we love to hate the Gators,” said Cromwell with a laugh. “It’s always a rivalry in-state, whether it’s Florida, Florida State, Miami. You always get up more for those than other non-conference games.”

The Knights are coming off a 17-5-1 season in which they were ranked as high as No. 8 and finished with a 43-20 advantage in goals scored. UCF also reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row, making it the 14th appearance in the postseason overall, which is good for the most trips by any program in the state.

What’s changed since then though is the loss of Courtney Whidden and Becca Thomas to graduation. Whidden is No. 2 all-time at UCF in game-winning goals (13), No. 6 in career goals (33) and No. 8 in total points (77) while Thomas ranks No. 4 in all-time assists (29) and No. 5 in both game-winning goals (10) and shots (198).

Yet Cromwell and her staff have shown to have little trouble reloading year after year. It’s that consistency in recruiting that Cromwell says has been vital to the program’s success.

“We have the talent to play with anybody in the country,” she said.

And they’ve done a pretty good job at finding some decent talent, no matter the country.

While players from the state of Florida make up more than half of the UCF roster, including projected starters in sophomore forward Tishia Jewell and junior midfielder Katie Jackson (both out of Satellite High School), as well as senior forward Kim Newsome from Apopka, they’ve been searching far and wide for the next great Knight.

Among them has been junior goalkeeper Aline Reis out of Brazil, defender Bianca Joswiak from Germany, and redshirt sophomore Andrea Rodrigues, who hails from St. Petersburg and played for the Portugal Women’s National Team in a FIFA World Cup qualifier this past summer after suffering a season-ending injury in 2009.

Reis, whom Cromwell says has a “field player’s mentality in the goal” earned All-American status as a freshman and is the 2010 C-USA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. She ranks No. 5 at UCF in career saves (189) and No. 6 in goals-against average (1.12) after stopping 82 shots in 2009 and 107 as a freshman.

“She tactically is very strong, she reads the game,” said Cromwell. “Even though she is short in stature, she plays big. We’ve had keepers five inches taller than her that get beat on balls overhead that she doesn’t get beat on.”

The Knights will be looking for every player on the roster to play big this weekend as they take aim at getting another season of high hopes underway, with a little dose of bragging rights on the line to boot.

And they’d have it no other way.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –