The No. 7 University of Florida soccer team (18-2-2, 9-1-1 SEC) claimed its ninth Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship with a 1-0 win over No. 20 South Carolina (14-5-4, 8-2-1 SEC) Sunday afternoon in front of an Orange Beach SportsPlex crowd of 1,473. With the win, Florida claims the SEC’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championship field.
| 2010 SEC All -Tournament Team |
| Jazmyne Avant, Florida |
| Lindsay Thompson, Florida |
| *Erika Tymrak, Florida |
| Kat Williamson, Florida |
| Laura Eddy, Georgia |
| Traci Dreesen, Georgia |
| Addie Eggleston, LSU |
| Megan Kinneman, LSU |
| Kayla Grimsley, South Carolina |
| Mollie Patton, South Carolina |
| Brittany Rhodes, South Carolina |
| *MVP |
| SEC Regular Season & Tournament Champion Sweeps | |
| The Southeastern Conference began awarding both regular season and tournament titles in 2000. In prior years, the league title was awarded to the SEC Tournament champion. Since 2000, Florida has completed the sweep four times and Tennessee twice. | |
| Year | School |
| 2000 | Florida |
| 2001 | Florida |
| 2003 | Tennessee |
| 2005 | Tennessee |
| 2007 | Florida |
| 2010 | Florida |
The only goal came in the 69th minute off an own goal. Florida’s Erika Tymrak crossed the ball into the box. USC goalkeeper Mollie Patton deflected the ball down, but the ball hit defender Brittiny Rhoades’ foot with enough pace to carry it into the goal at the far post. It was the second own goal scored by a Gator opponent this season, with the other being the first goal in Florida’s 3-0 win over Mississippi on Oct. 3.
The opportunity came after heavy second-half pressure on the USC goal by the Gators. Florida started the match with few chances in the opening minutes, but gained more possession as halftime approached. Tymrak, the SEC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player, said at halftime the coaches told the team their opportunities would come.
“At halftime our coaches pointed out that we had eight goals in the previous two games so the chances were going to come,” Tymrak said. “So when we went onto the field for the second half we just told each other that we are going to create opportunities. Even though it was an own goal, we were creating many chances prior and that’s what led to what happened.”
Florida turned in eight shots in each half, but the majority of the most dangerous opportunities came in the second half. UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said that was a result of Florida returning to its style of play.
“I think that the second half was really dominating for us. We just needed to settle down and start to play our game a little bit. In the first half, we kind of got caught in a long ball game and that’s not really our strength,” Burleigh said. “In the second half, we got back to our roots, which is a bit more possession oriented. It really came together, I thought.”
Junior goalkeeper Brooke Chancey made her first collegiate start Sunday, as senior Katie Fraine was sidelined with a groin injury. Fraine has drawn every start in goal since the final three matches of the 2008 season. Chancey replaced Fraine in goal in the second half of Friday’s 3-1 semifinal win over Georgia, but Chancey admitted being a bit nervous knowing she was going to start Sunday. But her teammates let her know that they had confidence in her abilities.
“It was entirely different because now that I had time to think about it and get a little nervous. So I actually had a good day and a half to think about what I was going to do and get myself focused. This is quite a game to get thrown into – the SEC Tournament championship match,” Chancey said. “But I got my mind right, got focused and played a pretty solid game, I think.”
“Everyone was really pulling for me because they know how nerve wracking it would have to be for me. But again, McKenzie (Barney) pulled me aside again and told me to just have fun out there. It really let me know my team was supporting me and it gave me a lot of confidence.”
Chancey was tested soon after the start of the match. A cross into the Florida box was headed by Brooke Jacobs, but Chancey made the stop of the quick shot at the near post corner. For the day, she recorded five saves.
The Gator backline also came up with a key save when Kira Campbell took a shot which came out of the scrum of a corner kick. Chancey was blocked, but sophomore Kathryn Williamson, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, headed the ball off the line to keep the Gamecocks off the scoreboard.
This was the second meeting between the two teams in the span of just over a week where a championship was on the line. The two teams brought identical league records into the regular-season finale on Oct. 29 in Columbia, S.C., with the winner taking the 2010 SEC title. Florida scored a goal off a free kick in the final 10 seconds of the opening half to claim a 1-0 win over the Gamecocks. The title was Florida’s 11th overall and fifth consecutive.
Last year, South Carolina bounced Florida out of the SEC Tournament with a 1-0 semifinal win. The Gamecocks went on to collect their first SEC Tournament trophy in 2009 with an 8-7 penalty kick advantage over LSU after the two teams played to a 1-1 double overtime tie. Sunday marked UF’s first appearance in the SEC Tournament final since it last won the title in 2007.
Burleigh said playing a team for a second time in a season is not an easy situation.
“When you have won (in a prior meeting), I think that makes it a lot more difficult. The way the tournament is set up, you are obviously going to meet some team you have just played,” Burleigh said. “South Carolina is a good side. They have a very stingy defense. I thought we had the chances to score a few more, but we didn’t get but one in so that’s a credit for them.”
Florida placed four on the SEC All-Tournament team. Joining Tymrak on the all-tournament team was defenders Jazmyne Avant and Williamson plus forward Lindsay Thompson. A Gator has claimed the SEC Tournament MVP award in 11 of the team’s 12 SEC Tournament final appearances.
Florida now awaits the announcement of the 2010 NCAA Championship bracket on Monday, Nov. 8. The 64-team bracket will be revealed on ESPNU at approximately 4:30 p.m. Teams need to have a record better than .500 to be considered for an at-large berth. Thirty conferences will receive automatic qualification for the 2010 championship and the remaining 34 teams will be selected on an at-large basis.
| Scoring Summary: | 1st | 2nd | Final |
| South Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Florida | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Scoring: | |||||||
| UF: Own Goal 68:07 | |||||||
| | |||||||
| Goalkeepers: | |||||||
| | | Minutes | Saves | GA | |||
| South Carolina | Mollie Patton | 90:00 | 5 | 1 | |||
| Florida | Brooke Chancey | 90:00 | 5 | 0 | |||
| | | | | | |||
| Statistical Summary: | USC | UF | |||||
| Shots | 11 | 16 | |||||
| Shots on goal | 5 | 6 | |||||
| Saves | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Corner Kicks | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Fouls | 8 | 5 | |||||
| Offside | 0 | 1 | |||||
Cautions: Kayla Grimsley/USC – yellow/77:42
