Key questions face UCF women’s soccer

There will be a lot of new faces for UCF women’s soccer when they open the 2015 season at home Friday against the in-state rival Florida Gators at the UCF Soccer Complex at 8 p.m.

Knights coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak will have a new-looking team in 2015 as the Knights will have 15 new players on the roster who will have to help replace nine starters that helped lead the Knights to the NCAA Tournament round of 16 last season before losing at eventual National Champions Florida State.

There are three big questions the Knights have going into the season.

Who will provide the scoring?

Among the players returning is Ashley Spivey who figures to have to fill the scoring load left by Tatiana Coleman. Coleman led the Knights in scoring last season with 14 goals and 11 assists in 23 games played. Spivey was second on the team last season with 10 goals.

The key will be can the Knights get scoring from anyone other then Spivey on a consistent basis? This remains to be seen.

Amanda Wilkin and Bridget Callahan are the only other Knights returners who scored more then one goal last season. Wilkin and Callahan each had three goals. They will need more to repeat last year’s strong run into the NCAA Tournament and maintain dominance in the AAC.

Who will be at goalkeeper?

This is the biggest question of the season.

UCF last season had 13 shutouts as a team. Connie Organ was involved in all 13. With Organ now graduated, three names to look out for this season that will need to contribute to the Knights on the field.

Senior Diana Manis, who was the backup to Organ last season but played only 18 minutes protecting the net, will be in the mix along with Vera Varis to replace Organ. Varis comes over from the Finland Women’s National team and brings major international experience to the position as Varis appeared in 2014 U20 FIFA Women’s World Cup and has participated in three U19 UEFA Championships in addition to the 20111 UEFA U17 Women’s Championship. Redshirt freshman Francesca Fischer comes over from Louisville where she redshirted last season.

There are clearly some options in net and the Knights will have to sort through the talent and make sure they have someone who can stand tall in net to anchor the defense.

Who will replace Carleigh Williams?

UCF has a great tradition of developing great defenders. Carleigh Williams was the latest one. Williams was the AAC Defensive Player of the Year last season and was a first team All-Region member and leader on the team.

Saga Fredriksson and Hannah Debose return to lead the defense as sophomores after being All-AAC Freshman team members last season. Another name to remember is Varis’ teammate at Finland,  Katarina Naumanen. Naumanen brings experience playing internationally as does Mississippi State transfer Morgan Ferrera.

Despite all the losses on the roster, there are only five seniors. Ten players out of 27 on the roster are juniors or seniors. This is a young team with a lot of players who have to prove themselves and step into roles left vacant from last year’s team.

They are expected to do so pretty quickly and make good on their talent. The Knights come into the season ranked 17th in the country and will be among the favorites to win the American Conference for the third straight season.

The Knights open the season with a showdown with the No. 8 Florida Gators, a team likely to open the season as SEC title favorites as well as a national title contender.

The Gators are led by  Savannah Jordan, who is again a contender for the Herman Trophy, soccer’s version of the Heisman Trophy. Jordan is a candidate for 20 goals once again and will spearhead a formidable offense for the Gators this year which will present a challenge to a mostly new-look Knights defense.

Other notable games this season include the Knights’ visit to Tallahassee, the place where the Knights’ 2014 season ended against the No. 1-ranked national champion Florida State on Sept. 10. The Knights will host preseason No. 25-ranked Georgetown