The No. 7 Florida soccer team (7-1-1, 1-0 SEC) opened Southeastern Conference play Friday with a 2-0 win at Kentucky (6-3, 0-1 SEC) in front of a soggy UK Soccer Complex crowd of 372.
| Did You Know… |
| With the shutout Friday, Gator goalkeeper Katie Fraine now shares first with Jordan Kellgren (1999-02) for Florida’s career solo shutouts record (21). |
The second half opened with an early goal by the Gators. Florida started a counter attack after a Kentucky free kick just above the Gator box. Three Gators headed down the field with Tahnai Annis in the middle. Annis sent the ball to Erika Tymrak who was moving down the left side of the box. Tymrak took a 10-yard left-footed shot which scored at the far corner of the goal.
“Tahnai got it on a counter attack and started to take it down the middle of the field. I heard Alan (Kirkup, UF’s assistant coach) yell ‘Take off Erika!” so I started sprinting,” Tymrak said. “Tahnai’s defender committed to her and when that happened, Tahnai slipped it to me.”
It was Tymrak’s second goal of the year, with both goals coming this month in road action.
Soon after the clock started into the final 10 minutes of regulation, Florida scored its second goal. Ashlee Elliott sent the ball from above the 18-yard box and was it was deflected high into the air and across the mouth of the goal by McKenzie Barney and a UK defender. Annis headed the ball to the far post corner at 80:43, scoring her fifth goal of the season.
| Friday’s SEC Results | |
| Auburn def. Mississippi State 3-1 | |
| Tennessee def. Arkansas 2-1 | |
| No. 17 Georgia def. LSU 1-0 | |
| No. 23 South Carolina and Vanderbilt tied 0-0 2OT | |
| Alabama def. Mississippi 2-0 | |
“The ball got played across the box and the ball got headed up into the air. I saw an opportunity so I jumped as high as I could, just hoping to get something on it. I did and was able to lob it over the keeper,” Annis said.
UF goalkeeper Katie Fraine recorded three saves Friday, with the most dangerous chance coming in the 33rd minute. Freshman Taylor Parker looked to take advantage when she won the ball in the Florida final third. She brought the ball to just inside the box and took a clear shot, but Fraine lunged to her left to make the stop at the middle of the goal. It was her fourth shutout of the season and moves her into a tie for first with Jordan Kellgren for career solo shutouts (21).
This was the first match of the season where the Gators encountered rain. The rain started just when the teams came out to warm up and continued through much of the first half. A short break in the weather was followed by another burst of rain which started during halftime and lasted about 10 minutes into the second half.
UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh liked how the Gators handled the wet conditions Friday.
“The conditions did present a different environment for us than what we’ve had for the past few weeks. But I thought our team dealt with the slippery field and the wet ball pretty well,” she said. “What I liked about this game the most is that we really didn’t take our foot off the gas. We kept pushing, pushing, pushing even after we scored. We had a lot of composure – we kept possession of the ball and really made Kentucky work to win it back. I think that worked to our advantage at the end of the game.
“A win on the road in SEC play – we’ll take it any day and any way we can,” she continued.
Florida finishes its five-match road stretch Sunday at Vanderbilt (4-4-1, 0-0-1 SEC) in a match which will be televised live by CSS (Gainesville/Ocala Cox Cable channel 259) at 2 p.m. (ET). Florida won 5-1 when the two teams met in 2009, but the last match held in Nashville was a 4-3 OT win when Jessica Eicken headed in a corner kick. The Commodores opened SEC play Friday with a 0-0 2OT tie versus South Carolina. Sunday’s match can be heard on www.GatorZone.com with Adam Schick covering the weekend’s action.
| Scoring Summary: | 1st | 2nd | Final |
| Florida | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Kentucky | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scoring: | |||||||
| UF: Erika Tymrak (Tahnai Annis) 46:08 | |||||||
| UF: Annis (McKenzie Barney) 80:43 | |||||||
| | |||||||
| Goalkeepers: | |||||||
| | | Minutes | Saves | GA | |||
| Florida | Katie Fraine | 90:00 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Kentucky | Sydney Hiance | 90:00 | 5 | 2 | |||
| | | | | | |||
| Statistical Summary: | UF | UK | |||||
| Shots | 16 | 4 | |||||
| Shots on goal | 7 | 3 | |||||
| Saves | 3 | 5 | |||||
| Corner Kicks | 8 | 1 | |||||
| Fouls | 16 | 13 | |||||
| Offside | 0 | 0 | |||||
Cautions: Holly King (UF) 45:53; Ashley VanLandingham (UK) 78:59; McKenzie Barney (UF) 80:01
