The #25 UCF women’s soccer team opened the season with a 2-0 loss to #11 Florida.

After a scoreless first half, UCF came out flat in the second, and gave up both goals in quick succession early on to Tahnai Annis; the first on a turnover at 48′, the second on a breakaway at 52′.

UCF did outshoot Florida, 7-6, and conceded no corner kicks.

The real story is the record crowd of 2,141 in attendance. This smashes the previous soccer attendance record of 1,142, set in a victory over Florida State last year.

UCF’s next game is this Friday at 7pm against San Diego State. The men’s soccer team hosts a preseason friendly against Tampa tonight at 7pm, and against Saint Leo this Saturday at 6pm.

UCF alum and Florida Tuskers draftee WR Rocky Ross has decided today to retire from football.

Ross, who was an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American for 2009, earned a masters in sports and fitness, so it’s possible he could be looking for an office job somewhere.

The decision came as a complete surprise to Tuskers head coach Jay Gruden. Ross has been placed on waivers; it’s unknown yet who the Tuskers will sign in his place, if anybody.

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One play we won’t be getting is QB Jeff Garcia. He signed today with the Omaha Nighthawks.

Another UCF women’s soccer play has been tapped to play for her home country’s national team.

Last year, goalkeeper Aline Ries was first called to play for the Brazil national soccer team. Now, midfielder Andrea Rodrigues has been called up by Portugal to participate in UEFA qualifying for the 2011 Women’s World Cup.

The UCF junior, who scored one goal in three games in 2009 before suffering a season-ending injury, played 32 minutes in her first game, a 1-0 victory over Slovenia on June 23.

Portugal had already been eliminated in Group G when she received her first callup.

In addition to Ries and Rodrigues, head coach Amanda Cromwell participated in the U.S. women’s national team from 1991 through 1998.

Sorry I’ve been quiet the past week or so. Had some stuff to take care of in the real world.

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The Orlando Predators are currently sitting 5-7 with four games left in the regular season. That includes home games this Friday against Alabama, and on Saturday night, July 24, against Oklahoma City. The game on Friday night will air on NFL Network, and of course tickets are available. Game time is 8pm.

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The Kraze are 4-3-2 right now. Their next game is this Friday at Showalter Field in Winter Park. Game time is 7pm.

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The Florida Tuskers is planning the big kickoff for their Supporters Club. It will happen next Tuesday, July 13, at Ember, a high-end bar and grill in Downtown Orlando at 42 W. Central Blvd. There is parking right next door at 55 W. Central Blvd. (no, that’s not the 55 West… that’s a couple blocks south on Church St.)

Drink specials and complementary appetizers will be provided.

The Tuskers have not been sitting around in terms of personnel decisions. They have signed running back Dominic Rhodes. That name ought to be familiar. It’s the same guy who saved Peyton Manning’s hind quarters by rushing 113 yards with one touchdown in Super Bowl XLI. For his NFL career, he has 7,257 all-purpose yards with 32 TD.

Their provisional roster, which they will take into preseason training camp, was announced last Wednesday.

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The only recent news on the Orlando Titans is that they recently reshuffled their ownership structure. The primary owner, Gary Rosenbach, has sold some of his stake to other ownership partners.

Team president Steve Donner said there is interest in bringing in local partners. I’m certain we’ll get news when that happens.

The team stated there are no major difficulties with our NLL lacrosse team. Although not profitable their first year (what team is?), they did do better this year than during any year in New York City. Their financial goal is to break even during their third season in town.

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As for UCF… I scooped that Jeffrey Jordan would join his brother, Marcus, at UCF for men’s basketball. This was made official last week. He’ll sit out this coming season, and play his senior season, 2011-12.

Women’s basketball announced just today that assistant coach Courtney Locke has been promoted to recruiting coordinator. Locke has been an integral part of head coach Joi Williams-Felton’s staff. She played at Rutgers from 2002-2006.

It should be noted that all five starters in women’s basketball, and 4 of 5 starters in men’s basketball, return next year. So there are high hopes for improvement in 2010-11.

Season tickets for UCF football are on sale now. General season tickets are $190 on the sidelines and $130 in the end zone. Both prices are lower than the first-year prices in 2007 ($210 anywhere). Faculty/staff pricing is $156, and student pricing is $60 with valid UCF ID.

In baseball, Chris Duffy is being named first-team All-American by everybody: ABCA/Rawlings, Baseball America, NCBWA, and Yahoo! Sports, among others. Whether or not he wins the Golden Spikes Award (for which he’s one of 5 finalists) will be announced next Tuesday prior to the MLB All-Star Game.

Owen Dew signed his tender with the Cleveland Indians, and will report to Short-A Mahoning Valley in the New York-Penn League. Shane Brown signed with the Yankees, and will report to Short-A Staten Island in the same league.

Chris Duffy has been assigned to the rookie-level Gulf Coast League by the Phillies, meaning he’s playing in Clearwater. (Interestingly enough, he’s not the only Chris Duffy in the Phillies system.)

We got official word today: The UCF Knights men’s basketball team will play a game at the new Amway Center in 2010-11.

The first collegiate game played at Amway Center will be a match against the Florida Gators on Wednesday, December 1.

Entitled the Florida Citrus Sports Shootout, the game will have tickets ranging from $15 to $100, with lower bowl tickets starting at $15.

UCF left fielder Chris Duffy made it to the list of five finalist for the MLB.com/USA Baseball Golden Spikes Awards.

Vote for Duffy now! Voting closes next Friday, June 18, at 5pm EDT. The winner of the fan vote will count as one vote on the final panel. Let’s show them how much we love our superstar.

Duffy is also one of 25 semifinalists for the Dick Howser Award, an award of the National College Baseball Writers Association. Three finalists will be named next Saturday, June 19.

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Duffy was duly awarded for his work in college by being selected in the 2010 MLB Draft, along with right fielder Shane Brown and starting pitcher Owen Dew.

Dew was chosen with the 5th pick in the 21st round, 630th overall, by the Cleveland Indians.

Brown was chosen with the last pick of the 23rd round, 715th overall, by the New York Yankees.

Duffy was chosen with the 26th pick in the 26th round, 801st overall, by the Philadelphia Phillies.

There’s still 20 more rounds to go. More tomorrow night.

As for our high school students: LHP Justin Nicolino of University High was chosen in the 2nd round (80th overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays.  RHP A.J. Cole of Oviedo High was chosen 116th overall by the Washington Nationals. CF Mason Williams of West Orange High was chosen 145th overall by the Yankees. RF Jose Dore of The First Academy was chosen 244th overall by the San Diego Padres. RF Dustin Geiger of Merritt Island High was chosen 730th overall by the Chicago Cubs. CF Jay Gonzalez of Freedom High was chosen 833rd overall by the Boston Red Sox. RHP Adaric Kelly of Trinity Prep was chosen 846th overall by the Blue Jays.

For other local colleges, RHP Jason Degrom of Stetson University was chosen 272nd overall by the New York Mets. RHP Tim Griffin of Rollins College was chosen 852nd overall by the Seattle Mariners.

From Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University: RHP Jonathan Countis was chosen 572nd overall by the Mets. C Austin Goolsby was chosen 778th overall by the Baltimore Orioles.

It has been announced that UCF will host the 2010 Conference USA women’s soccer championship, November 3-7.

They have also released their 2010 schedule. Only one preseason friendly, vs. FIU on August 13, 7pm.

Regular season
August 22 vs. Florida, 7pm
August 27 vs. San Diego State, 7pm
September 3 @ USF, 7pm
September 5 vs. Virginia Commonwealth, 1pm
September 10 vs. Harvard, 7pm
September 12 @ FSU, 1pm
September 17 @ Arizona, 10:30pm (Arizona Tournament)
September 19 vs. Arizona State, 1:30pm (Arizona Tournament)
September 24 vs. East Carolina, 7pm
September 26 vs. Marshall, 1pm
October 1 @ Memphis, 8pm
October 3 @ UAB, 3pm
October 8 vs. Houston, 7pm
October 10 vs. Rice, 1pm
October 15 @ Colorado College, 6pm
October 17 @ UTEP, 1pm
October 22 vs. Tulsa, 7pm
October 24 vs. SMU, 1pm
October 29 vs. Southern Miss, 8pm

Home games are in bold. Colorado College is in C-USA for women’s soccer. Considering the time, I think the Southern Miss game might be an error. I will clarify later on.

UCF women’s soccer opens the 2010 season ranked #11 in the national RPI.

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UCF goalkeeper Lynzee Lee has left the team, signing a contract with the Buffalo Flash of the USL W-League. Lee is the first women’s soccer player in UCF history to play professionally; U.S. team legends Michelle Akers and Kim Wyant both retired before the game went pro for women. The W-League is the second tier of women’s soccer, underneath Women’s Pro Soccer.

She currently has 8 saves in her first three contests, and has yet to surrender a goal. The Flash are 1-0-2 in the W-League Midwest Division.

The UCF men’s soccer team has released their 2010 regular season schedule.

Preseason friendlies
August 23 vs. Tampa, 7pm
August 27 vs. Saint Leo, time TBA

Regular season
September 1 vs. Jacksonville, 7pm
September 6 vs. FAU, 3pm
September 10 @ UNC-Wilmington, 7:30pm (UNC-W Tournament)
September 12 vs. Long Island, Noon (UNC-W Tournament)
September 17 @ UMass, 3:30pm
September 19 @ Army, 1pm
September 26 @ Marshall, 1pm
October 2 vs. SMU, 7pm
October 5 vs. FIU, 7pm
October 9 vs. Memphis, 7pm
October 13 @ Kentucky, 7pm
October 16 @ South Carolina, 7pm
October 19 @ Virginia Tech, 4pm
October 26 vs. Stetson, 7pm
October 29 vs. UAB, 5:30pm
November 2 @ North Florida, 3pm
November 5 @ Tulsa, 7:05pm

Bolded items are conference events. (Yes, FIU, Kentucky and South Carolina are conference events. The SEC and Sun Belt don’t sanction soccer, so they are C-USA members for the sport.)

Stay tuned for the women’s soccer schedule.

UCF baseball LF Chris Duffy was selected as a semifinalist for the MLB.com/USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award.

Duffy, a senior, finished 2010 with a .447 batting average and an insane 1.389 OPS (.539 OBP, .850 SLG), with 21 home runs and 81 RBI. He is now tied for the UCF career record for home runs, with 43.

The most  recent winners of the award are San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum in 2006, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price in 2007, San Francisco Giants catcher (and FSU all-everything) Buster Posey in 2008, and soon-to-be-called-up Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg in 2009.

Voting is going on right now at the Golden Spikes Award website. Voting ends today at 5pm EDT, and finalists will be announced on Tuesday.

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Duffy was also selected, along with RF Shane Brown, as a Louisville Slugger All-American.

Brown, also a senior, finished 2010 with a .428 batting average and 1.233 OPS (.541 OBP, .692 SLG), with 26 doubles. He also finishes his career in the top 10 in home runs, and many other categories.

SS Darnell Sweeney was selected as Conference USA Freshman of the Year for baseball.

Apparently, Michael Jordan likes UCF.

His younger son, Marcus, already plays here. Now his older son, Jeffrey, is transferring to UCF from Illinois. A point guard, he will sit out next year, then play his senior year in 2011-12.

In addition, Josh Crittle is transferring in from Oregon. A power forward, he will also sit out next year, and will have two years of eligibility remaining.