Houston’s path to the Big 12 tournament got a major boost Sunday as the Cougars beat UCF 1-0 in Orlando, giving the Knights their first home loss of the season.
Thanks to sophomore forward Bailey Cate’s winner and sturdy defense, the Cougars have posted a 10+ win season for the first time since 2021. They also gained their sixth conference win of the season for the first time since 2001, when they were in Conference USA.
Cate’s goal came in the 12th minute when junior forward Jada Arthurs whipped in a cross towards Central Florida’s penalty box. Despite five players surrounding the ball, the Knights failed to clear it, and Cate capitalized, sending a low, driven shot past junior goalkeeper Kaïna Cesar and into the net down the middle.
That goal was Cate’s seventh of the season, a team-high.
Houston’s defense, which ranks 27th nationally in goals-against average, was poised from start to finish, limiting UCF to only three shots on target from seven attempts. The key defensive highlight for the team came in the 40th minute, when the Knights’ sophomore midfielder Sophia May unleashed a powerful shot near the Cougars’ six-yard box.
The shot deflected off fifth-year midfielder Morgan Donohue and looked like it was going in, but sophomore defender Amaris Bumba caught it just in time for a goal-line clearance.
The Cougars nabbed their ninth shutout game of the season, with junior goalkeeper Sierra McCluer grabbing her sixth individual clean sheet.
Houston now prepares for its final home game of the season on Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m., when it takes on No. 18 Kansas.
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