ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine women's soccer team will take on UCF in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Friday night at the UCF Soccer Complex.
 
Kickoff between the Black Bears and Knights is set for 7 p.m., with the contest streaming live on ESPN+.
 
Maine is making its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance while this is the 23rd for seventh-seeded UCF. Friday will mark the first-ever meeting between these two teams.

Game 18 | Maine at UCF
Friday, Nov. 14 | 7 p.m. | ESPN+
Orlando, Fla. | UCF Soccer Complex
First Round | 2025 NCAA Tournament
 
ABOUT MAINE
• Maine enters the 2025 NCAA Tournament at 6-7-4 overall after earning a 4-3 penalty-kick win over Vermont in the America East Championship game this past Sunday ... the teams played to a 2-2 tie through extra time.
• Maine is playing in its third consecutive NCAA Tournament.
• The Black Bears defeated top-seeded Binghamton, 1-0, in double overtime in the semifinal after topping rival New Hampshire, 2-1, in the quarterfinal round.
• Maine finished the regular season at 4-7-3 overall and 3-3-2 in America East play to earn a home playoff game for the fourth consecutive season.
• The Black Bears are unbeaten in the last four games at 3-0-1 and 4-1-2 in the last seven games.
 
ABOUT UCF
• UCF enters Friday night at 11-3-5 overall … the Knights fell in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Tournament last week, dropping a 3-2 contest to a #11/4 Colorado squad to snap a nine-game unbeaten streak (5-0-4).
• The Knights enter the 2025 NCAA Tournament as a seventh seed.
• UCF has five student-athletes earn All-Big 12 Women's Soccer accolades, highlighted by first team selection Liz Worden.
• Worden leads the team in points (23), assists (9) and is tied for first in goals (7) ... Rajanah Reed has seven goals and three assists to sit second on the team with 17 points while also scoring five game-winning goals.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs UCF
• Friday's game marks the first-ever meeting between Maine and UCF in women's soccer.
 
THREE-PEAT PERSPECTIVE
• Maine defeated Vermont, 4-3, in penalty kicks this past Sunday to win a third consecutive America East Championship title.
• With the victory, Maine became the first America East team to win three consecutive tournament titles since Boston University won five straight (2007-11) and just the third program ever, joining BU and Hartford (1997-99).
• Maine women's soccer is just the second University of Maine team – men's or women's – to win three straight conference tournaments, joining women's basketball who won four straight (1994-95 – 1996-97).
• The three-peat is one of four active conference tournament three-peats in NCAA Division I women's soccer.
 
QUICK TITLE GAME RECAP
• Fourth-seeded Maine battled second-seeded Vermont to a 2-2 tie through extra time before prevailing, 4-3, in penalty kicks in the 2025 America East Championship game.
• Vermont jumped out to a 2-0 lead less than 20 minutes into the contest … Jordane Pinette scored in the 28th minute and Grace Johnson tied the game in the 52nd minute.
• Elena Barenberg made six saves, including two in the penalty kick round, to earn the tournament's most outstanding player.
• Barenberg was joined by Pinette, Olivia Grisdale, and Luise Reinwald on the America East All-Championship Team.
• Maine became the first team to win a tournament title without a first-team all-conference honoree since Stony Brook in 2017 … the Black Bears were also the lowest seeded team to win the tournament since that fifth-seeded Stony Brook team in 2017.
 
ON THE OFFENSE…
• Maine has 11 different goal scorers in the season for the first time since 2022 … seven different Black Bears have multiple goals on the year.
• Julie Lossius (3-2-8), Jordane Pinette (3-2-8) and Emma Nicholson (2-4-8) are tied for the team lead in points.
• Nicholson led America East in assists in conference games with three.
• Victoria Dungey (2-3-7) has career-highs across the board while Abbey Thornton (3-1-7) has a career-high in points.
• Lossius, Pinette and Thornton are tied for the team lead in goals.

UP NEXT
• The winner of the Maine-UCF match up will advance to the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament to face the winner of Duke-Elon.