The University of Maine women’s soccer team lost 2-0 on Friday night to the University of Central Florida, ending a third-straight trip to the NCAA tournament for the Black Bears.
Coach Scott Atherley’s UMaine team almost didn’t even make the conference playoffs this season after a string of injuries, but the Black Bears battled back and provided a spirited run in the America East Tournament to make it back to the national bracket.
Atherley said before Friday’s first round matchup in Orlando, Florida that the UCF Knights would be the best team UMaine had faced all season. And the host team proved that on the pitch with a 2-0 win over the Black Bears.
Forward Rajanah Reed got the scoring started for UCF in the 20th minute, and teammate Hannah Boughton from the UCF midfield added the second and final goal about 20 minutes into the second half.
UMaine had a couple of decent chances on net, particularly at the very beginning and end of the contest, but couldn’t get past UCF keeper Genesis Perez Watson.
Watson was there in the opening minutes with a diving save at the far post to stop a shot from UMaine forward Gillian Rovers. That was one of two saves for Watson on seven total shots from UMaine.
UCF had 17 total shots and UMaine goalie Elena Barenberg made three saves on the night.
Knights defender Guta Franke registered assists on both of UCF’s goals, and teammates Liz Worden and Honoka Hamano each had an assist as well.
The Black Bears finish their season at 6-8-4 after taking home their third straight America East Tournament title by virtue of a 4-3 win in penalty kicks at Vermont on Sunday.
Central Florida is now 12-3-5. The Big-12 Conference team, a 7-seed in the NCAA tournament, now moves on to play No. 1 Duke.
UMaine’s two previous trips to the NCAA tournament ended in first round losses to Harvard (3-0) in 2023 and Wisconsin (3-1) last year.
