For the first 10 or so minutes of its match, the University of Florida soccer team looked a bit out of sync. Worrisome thoughts of the past weekend may have floated through fans’ minds. Florida hosted conference rival Tennessee on Friday after tying (at Alabama on Oct. 8) and losing (at Auburn on Oct. 10).
| Friday’s SEC Scores | |||
| Away | Score | Home | Score |
| No. 21 Georgia | 1 | No. 14 South Carolina | 0 |
| Alabama | 1 | Kentucky | 3 |
| Auburn | 1 | Vanderbilt | 1 |
| Arkansas | 4 | Mississippi State | 0 |
| LSU | 0 | Mississippi | 0 |
But any doubt was quickly erased in the first half as the No. 13-ranked Gators (11-2-2, 5-1-1 Southeastern Conference) mounted a three-goal lead in a matter of five minutes en route to a 4-2 victory.
“I thought there were some really good goals, the finishing was efficient and at this point to get the three points (for a conference win) is the first part of the weekend,” UF coach Becky Burleigh said.
The Lady Volunteers (7-7-1, 4-2-1 SEC) controlled the ball and kept it in Florida’s half to open the game before the Gators looked anywhere near comfortable.
“The good thing about it was we didn’t start strong, but we didn’t panic,” Burleigh said. “We were able to weather that and then go on that stretch.”
UF found its offensive rhythm and it wasn’t long before they hit their stride.
In the 27th minute, junior Jazmyne Avant sped down the right side of the field, and crossed a ball to the center of the field. Fellow junior Tahnai Annis was waiting in the keeper’s box and notched the first goal of the offensive spurt.
Two minutes later, sophomore Erika Tymrak side-stepped her initial defender from the left corner and dribbled toward the net before finding Lindsay Thompson perched right past the keeper for the score.
“The last whole week we worked on shooting and finishing,” Tymrak said. “We actually came to practice early just to finish and work on scoring and crossing. Our practice revolved around attacking.”
Thompson was rewarded again with a goal in the 32nd minute on an assist from freshman Taylor Travis and Annis. It’s Thompson’s fourth double-goal match of her career.
Chelsea Hatcher put the Vols on the board in the second period with a goal in the 50th minute. Forward Emily Dowd took on two defenders and managed a thread-the-needle pass to find Hatcher who rocketed a shot past Gators goalkeeper Katie Fraine.
“They did well with our errors,” said redshirt senior Ashlee Elliott, celebrating her 22nd birthday with a win. “They put us away when we were on our heels. The transition wasn’t fast enough by us.”
UT constantly kept the Gator defense on its toes with 16 shot attempts versus the Gators’ 11.
UF simply had too much firepower. Within the blink of an eye in the 53rd minute, Travis crossed a ball to Annis, who headed it in to the lower right corner of the net. She joined Thompson with her fourth career double-goal match, and now leads the Gators with 10 goals this season.
Hatcher kept Tennessee from going down quietly. In the 56th minute she stole the ball along the far sideline, deep within the Gator half, and mustered up a shot that deflected in.
It’s only the second time this season UF has allowed two goals. The first was in a 2-0 loss to then-No. 1 North Carolina, in Durham on Sept. 19.
“We’re definitely confident because we got four goals,” Tymrak said. “We’re going to go into Georgia confident, but we gotta go hard and make sure we come out with a win.”
Florida continues home action Sunday when it plays host to No. 21 Georgia (9-2-4, 4-0-3 SEC) on Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. Georgia upset No. 14 South Carolina 1-0 Friday in Columbia, S.C. Last year in Athens, UF claimed a 1-0 win off a goal in the 86th minute. The match airs live on CSS (Gainesville/Ocala Cox cable channel 259) at 2 p.m. (ET).
Sunday is Senior Day and Florida’s three seniors – Ashlee Elliott, Katie Fraine and Nicky Kit – will be honored in a prematch ceremony.
By Eugenio Torrens
UF Communications
| Scoring Summary: | 1st | 2nd | Final |
| Tennessee | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Florida | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Scoring: | |||||||
| UF: Tahnai Annis (Jazmyne Avant) 26:26 | |||||||
| UF: Lindsay Thompson (Erika Tymrak) 28:47 | |||||||
| UF: Thompson (Taylor Travis, Annis) 31:11 | |||||||
| UT: Chelsea Hatcher (Emily Dowd) 49:01 | |||||||
| UF: Annis (Travis) 52:47 | |||||||
| UT: Hatcher (unassisted) 55:44 | |||||||
| | |||||||
| Goalkeepers: | |||||||
| | | Minutes | Saves | GA | |||
| Tennessee | Molly Baird | 90:00 | 2 | 4 | |||
| Florida | Katie Fraine | 90:00 | 4 | 2 | |||
| | | | | | |||
| Statistical Summary: | UT | UF | | ||||
| Shots | 17 | 11 | | ||||
| Shots on goal | 7 | 6 | | ||||
| Saves | 2 | 5 | | ||||
| Corner Kicks | 7 | 3 | | ||||
| Fouls | 17 | 16 | | ||||
| Offside | 1 | 1 | | ||||
Cautions: UT/Emily Shore (61:20), UF/Sarah Chapman (86:38)
