Just a few days after falling hard in their season opener at Florida State, the UCF women’s soccer team scored a big upset with a 1-0 triumph over No. 19 Florida. Junior Yvonne George scored the deciding goal in the 84th minute while freshman goalkeeper Aline Reis made eight saves to help UCF avenge a season-ending loss to the Gators in the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

The Colonial Grenadiers, entering a new year having lost 14 of their last 16 overall, started the season looking very different than the team that won just one game last year. And that new look had little to do with the all-black uniforms they introduced to the home crowd.

Timber Creek’s football team looked like a shell of its former self last week when the state runner-up Boone Braves paid an unwelcome visit. The 33-0 score at the end of the night shocked a capacity crowd that had so many reasons to believe the Wolves could play on the same field as Boone, the No. 5 team in the state entering the weekend.

Since a record crowd of 1,568 fans came out to see the UCF women’s volleyball team lose in three sets to No. 3 Stanford at The Venue earlier this month, the Knights have won four of their last seven matches.

A year ago Timber Creek’s football team found themselves in similar territory as they approached district play. Only this time there are more questions than answers while sitting at 1-2 entering Friday night’s homecoming game against Winter Park. Last week the Wolves won all but the final 21 seconds of the game at Winter Springs when a Rahfee McClee touchdown run from the 2-yard line didn’t stand up.

As a wrestler, Mike Ciambriello has dealt with the individual highs and lows that come with the wins and losses on the mat. He then experienced those same feelings within the span of less then two quarters of football last week. Though on Friday night at Winter Springs it wasn’t just himself he let down in the third quarter of Timber Creek’s 31-28 loss to the Bears.

University High School senior T.J. Sturgeon lost just two wrestling matches last season before going on to place third at the state tournament in the 171-pound class. Those two losses, one at a tournament early in the season and the other in the state quarterfinals, came at the hands of eventual state champs.

When Colonial and University met up last week in the annual “Boot Game” rivalry, it wasn’t the lopsided showdowns of recent memory that played out in front of a packed house at UHS. Instead there was fourth quarter drama and a lengthy celebration by the Grenadier faithful following a 21-yard field goal by Emil Fernandez and a 37- yard touchdown gallop by Jermaine Bloomfield to secure an 18-9 win.