Senior Erika
Tymrak’s late free-kick goal gave the No. 10 Gators (15-4-1, 11-2 SEC) the
margin they needed Wednesday, advancing the team to Friday’s Southeastern
Conference Soccer Tournament semifinal action. Florida took a 2-1 win over
Mississippi (13-9, 5-8 SEC) in the third match of Wednesday’s action at the
Orange Beach Sportsplex.
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Florida receives the 2012 Southeastern Conference trophy
prior to the start of Wednesday’s match. The Gators used a 11-2 record in league
action to claim their 12th SEC title.
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The Gators now move
ahead to SEC Tournament semifinal action for the seventh consecutive year and
for the 16th time in the program’s 18-year history. Florida will
face Missouri Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET and the match can be viewed on ESPN3.
Missouri took a 2-1 win over Kentucky to advance. No. 12 Texas A&M advanced
to face Auburn in the other semifinal. A&M defeated South Carolina 1-0 in
overtime and Auburn took a 5-4 penalty kick decision over Tennessee on
Wednesday.
After the afternoon
matches both went to overtime after scoreless play, senior Jo Dragotta
provided the first goal of the day in regulation. Sophomore Tessa Andujar
made a move to beat her marker and moved along the end line toward the box. Her
cross in the box found Dragotta who hammered in the shot from 12 yards.
“Tessa ran down line
and beat a player. She’s really good at that,” Dragotta said. “Havana Solaun
made the front post run and dragged the player out. The ball from Tessa hit my
foot and it went in.”
It was Dragotta’s seventh goal of the
season and that’s tops among the 2012 Gators. For Andujar, it was her third
assist of the season and the second consecutive for the outside back, as she
also provide the feed on Annie Speese’s final goal in Florida’s 3-0 win
at South Carolina last Thursday in the regular-season finale.
The Rebels showed much more urgency in the
second half. In the opening half, UM recorded two shots but in the second
turned in five. The first goal of the season by UM’s Erin Emerson off a corner
kick tied the match in 80th minute.
UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said
the Gators got away from their strength in the second half.
“I think we just had to keep our
composure. We started to turn it into a little bit of a dribble fest instead of
a passing game, which is our strength. That’s our fault, but you have to give
Ole Miss credit for coming back and getting that goal,” Burleigh said. “It was
a great goal off their set piece.”
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Wednesday’s
SEC Soccer Scores:
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Florida 2, Mississippi 1
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Auburn 0, Tennessee 0 (AU
advances 5-4 PK)
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Missouri 2, Kentucky 1
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Texas A&M 1, South Carolina
0 OT
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After the goal, the Gators had three
shots, but the opportunity to get the winning margin came off a Rebel foul.
Junior Taylor Travis looked to move the ball into the box and was fouled
right above the 18-yard box. Three Gators stood over the ball while the Rebel
wall set up, but there was little doubt that it would be Tymrak, the 2012 SEC
Offensive Player of the Year, who would take the shot.
Tymrak hit the 19-yard shot to the far
upper slot to give Florida the final margin.
“I was at the top left of the 18 and I
saw a gap at the far post. I saw the goalie going near there but I knew if I
hit it hard enough it would go in,” Tymrak said.
The goal was Tymrak’s sixth of the
season and she pushed her team leading points total to 19. She moves up one
spot on both Florida’s career goals (29 goals/T8th) and points (93 points/6th) charts
after Wednesday’s goal.
The Gators’ push in the final minutes
created the opportunity which was the difference Wednesday.
“I think the key, in the end, was
creating chances,” Burleigh said. “We had a lot of chances early that we didn’t
finish, but it was a great individual effort on the set piece and that was the
difference in the game.”
Florida’s Taylor Burke turned in
four saves Wednesday, including a stop in the 62nd minute on SEC’s
co-goals leader Mandy McCalla. Her shot was headed to far post and Burke was
moving to her right to make the stop. The ball deflected and was then headed to
the near post. Burke made a quick switch and was just able to push the ball out
at the near post for a corner kick.
