The
No. 24 University of Florida soccer team (3-2-1, 0-0 SEC) roared out of a
lightning delay to score the tying and go-ahead goals to defeat New Mexico (3-4-1,
0-0 MWC) 3-2 Sunday afternoon at the James G. Pressly Stadium.
The
Lobos’ Rachel Montoya took advantage of a Gator backline miscue to score the only
goal of the opening half. She pounced on the ball played between two UF defenders
to score an unassisted goal from 14 yards in the 21st minute.
A
pair of sophomores worked together to score the Gators’ first goal early in the
second half. The play began when senior All-American Erika Tymrak won
the ball with a spinning move between a pair of Lobos at the center of the
field. Sophomore Havana Solaun ran onto the ball played by Tymrak and
she brought it down to just above the 18-yard box. The ball Solaun played left
found sophomore Annie Speese making a run in the box. Speese took a
couple of touches before sending a right-footed shot which scored in the middle
upper coordinate of the goal. It was Speese’s first goal of the season.
The
Lobos regained the lead in the 57th minute when Natalie Jenks,
located deep in the Florida box, sent a ball that cut up through the box
diagonally. Stephanie Rowe ran onto the ball and scored her first goal of the
season from 18 yards.
Shortly
after the Lobos second goal, lightning in the area forced the teams from the
field. Play resumed after a 50-minute delay.
Florida
quickly knotted the score at 2-all off a goal that was predicted by sophomore Maggie
Rodgers during the break from play.
“We
were in the locker room and I just had this feeling that Erika was going to
score. Then I went up to her, told her it maybe eight times until she said, ‘okay
I get it Maggie, I know I’m going to score,’” Rodgers said of her Gator medium
moment. “We just kind of body-slammed each other (after the goal). I told her
she was going to score and she said it was because of me.”
The
goal was scored just over two minutes after play resumed. Tymrak remarked that
the Lobos presented Florida with a riddle which they needed to solve.
“They
sat behind the ball so we kind of had to treat it like a puzzle and break it
down. When they put a lot of numbers behind, something that will break that
down is give and go’s,” Tymrak said. “I saw (Annie) Bobbitt in a gap and I gave
it to her. I made a run, she played it right back on my foot and I looked up
and saw the far post open so I hit it.”
The
goal was Tymrak’s second of the season and the 25th of her career.
The
Gators took a 3-2 lead in the 66th minute off a header from senior Holly
King. The Gators were awarded a free kick a few paces above the upper left
corner of the box. The ball fellow senior Jo Dragotta sent into the box
was flicked off the head of King for her first goal of the season.
There
was a near-call by the official on the play, but King’s goal stood.
“Jo
and I can read each other really well so I knew exactly where she was going to
play it. She played a perfect ball to me and I just headed it in with a girl
dragging my jersey backwards,” King said. “The ref saw the girl pulling my
jersey back as I was heading it so he was going to call the penalty, but it
went in so he just called the goal.”
Florida
Head Coach Becky Burleigh liked that the Gators found a way to win
Sunday.
