The No. 7 Florida (17-2-2, 9-1-1 SEC) and No. 20 South Carolina (14-4-4, 8-2-1 SEC) soccer teams meet for the second time in the span of just over a week with another Southeastern Conference championship on the line. The top two seeded teams meet Sunday in the SEC Tournament Championship match, which airs live on ESPNU (Gainesville/Ocala Cox Cable channel 251) at 3 p.m. ET. Florida enters the match as the SEC Tournament’s No. 1 seed and South Carolina is the No. 2 seed. The league’s automatic berth to the 2010 NCAA Championship goes to the winner of the SEC Tournament.
| Sunday’s Match Info: |
| No. 7 Florida (17-2-2, 9-1-1 SEC) versus No. 20 South Carolina (14-4-4, 8-2-1 SEC) Date & Time: Nov. 7, 2010 @ 3 p.m. ET Site: Orange Beach Sportsplex (1,500) The Coaches: Becky Burleigh, 16th season @ UF (363-95-31/20 seasons overall - 281-72-25/UF), Shelley Smith, 14th season overall and 10th at South Carolina (185-105-30/overall & 114-70-28 at USC) Television: live on ESPNU (Gainesville/Ocala Cox Cable channel 251) Radio: live on WRUF SportsRadio 850 Internet: live stats and streaming audio for UF-USC match available on www.GatorZone.com Tickets: $5 for adults, $3 for youth 12 & under. Contact the Orange Beach Parks & Recreation Department for more information at (251) 981-6039 |
Florida claimed its 11th SEC title and fifth consecutive with its 1-0 win at then No. 17 South Carolina on Oct. 29. The regular-season finale featured the league’s top two teams who each brought identical SEC records into the match. The Gators were awarded a free kick just above the box with 10 seconds remaining in the opening half. The referee stopped the clock to allow the teams to set for the play. Senior Nicky Kit’s 20-yard shot hit the near post and kicked in for the only score of the match. It was her second goal of the season, fourth of her career and her first game-winner.
Kit’s game-winning goal earned her the CollegeSoccer360.com Primetime Performer of the Week honor. She also was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week. More honors were announced by the league office on Nov. 2. Sophomore Kathryn Williamson is the SEC Defender of the Year and Taylor Travis is the SEC Freshman of the Year. Coach of the Year went to Becky Burleigh. Florida led all programs with five appearing on 2010 All-SEC teams – Tahnai Annis (second team), Ashlee Elliott (first), Erika Tymrak (first), Travis (second) and Williamson (first). Travis also appears on the SEC All-Freshman team.
Although Florida leads all league teams with eight SEC Tournament titles, only the 2007 title came at the Orange Beach SportsPlex. Six of the last seven SEC Tournaments have been held in Orange Beach, Ala. The Gators advanced to the tournament final three previous times in Orange Beach, with Tennessee taking a penalty kick decision after the two teams tied 1-1 20T in the 2003 final and the Gators lost 2-1 to Kentucky in the 2006 final. The third time proved to be the charm, as UF won the 2007 SEC Tournament title with a 4-1 win over Georgia. This will be UF’s first SEC Tournament finale appearance since its 2007 win, as the Gators’ tournament run ended in the semifinal round in 2008 (3-0 loss to Georgia) and 2009 (1-0 loss to South Carolina). Florida has advanced to the SEC Tournament final 12 of its 16 SEC Tournament appearances.
South Carolina finished second in the final SEC standings with its 8-2-1 record. The Gamecocks advanced to the SEC Tournament final after two consecutive 3-2 penalty kick decisions after tying Kentucky (first round) and LSU (semifinal) 1-1 2OT in regulation. The last three SEC Tournament appearances for USC have gone to penalty kicks, as the Gamecocks claimed its first SEC Tournament title in 2009 with a 8-7 penalty kick advantage after tying LSU 1-1 2OT in the final. The Gamecocks are led by 2010 SEC Offensive Player of the Year Kayla Grimsley. She enters Sunday’s final leading the SEC in points (34) and she shares first in goals (12) with Florida’s McKenzie Barney and Tahnai Annis. She was joined on the All-SEC first team by senior defender Brittiny Rhoads and junior defender Ellen Fahey earned All-SEC second team honors. USC senior goalkeeper Mollie Patton leads the SEC with her goals-against-average of 0.62.
