The No. 10 Gators (17-4-1, 11-2 SEC) hoisted their 10th
Southeastern Conference Soccer Tournament trophy after taking a 3-0 win over
Auburn (12-10-1, 7-6 SEC) Sunday in front of an Orange Beach Sportsplex crowd
of 1,215.
SEC Regular Season & Tournament Champion Sweeps
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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 five times
and Tennessee twice.
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Year
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School
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2012
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Florida
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2010
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Florida
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2007
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Florida
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2005
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Tennessee
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2003
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Tennessee
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2001
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Florida
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2000
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Florida
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With the win, Florida receives the SECs automatic berth into
the NCAA Championship’s field of 64. It will be Florida’s 16th NCAA
appearance in the 18-year history of the program. The entire field is revealed
Monday at 4:30 p.m. ET at NCAA.com.
A pair of first half goals Sunday put the Gators well on the
way of ensuring they would not become the third nationally-ranked opponent to
fall to Auburn at this season’s SEC Tournament. The No. 6 seeded Tigers moved
ahead Wednesday after a 5-3 penalty kick advantage over third-seeded and No. 19
Tennessee after the two teams played to a scoreless tie. Friday, the Tigers
scored twice in the second half to send second-seeded and No. 12 Texas A&M
home by a 2-0 score.
The first score came from the same player who gave the Gators
a golden-goal win when the two teams first met in Auburn on Sept. 16. Senior
All-American Erika Tymrak, from about 30 yards above the Tiger goal,
sent a diagonal ball to sophomore Havana Solaun. She touched the ball to
Adriana Leon who was sprinting toward the penalty spot. Leon took a
touch, then sent a low shot to the near post which put the Gators on the board
in the 26th minute.
Leon, who transferred to Florida after playing her first two
seasons at Notre Dame, turned in her first goal as a Gator at Auburn with an
18-yard shot with just 32 second remaining in the first overtime period.
Sunday’s goal was also the second SEC-championship goal for the junior. She hit
the game-winning goal at South Carolina on Oct. 25 and that 3-0 win in Columbia
gave Florida its 12th SEC regular-season championship.
Florida’s SEC Tournament Titles
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Florida picked up its 10th SEC Tournament
title Sunday. The 10 titles leads the league
in the 20-year history of SEC soccer.
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Year
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SEC Tournament
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2012
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Champions
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2010
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Champions
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2007
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Champions
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2004
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Champions
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2001
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Champions
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2000
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Champions
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1999
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Champions
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1998
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Champions
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1997
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Champions
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1996
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Champions
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Tymrak pushed the halftime lead to 2-0 in the 31st
minute with another goal scored from distance. The ball from senior Holly
King found Solaun above the box who then touched it out to Tymrak about 10
yards above the 18-yard box. Tymrak dribbled forward to beat one marker, then
sent a hard and low shot from 23 yards which beat Tiger goalkeeper Amy Howard
to the near post.
This was Tymrak’s third goal from 20-yards or farther of the
tournament. In Friday’s semifinal win versus Missouri, Tymrak scored from 25
yards and she provided the Gators with the game-winning goal of a 24-yard free
kick in the 2-1 win over Mississippi Wednesday.
Florida
added to the score in the 70th minute when Solaun scored off the assist from
Tymrak. Her pass found Solaun rotating to the corner of the six-yard box on the
Tiger goalkeeper’s left. Solaun’s low shot scored for her seventh goal of the
season.
Solaun’s goal helped settle play as the Tigers were playing a
more aggressive man-to-man in the second half.
“It’s
really exciting [to score]. We were up 2- 0, but it was still a little hectic,”
Solaun said. “I think the third goal helped us settle down and it just took a
lot of pressure off of everyone.”
Florida’s
head coach Becky Burleigh, the only coach in the Gator program’s
existence, said getting these wins are always thrilling. But what she is most
excited about is the play the Gators showed throughout the tournament.
“Playing
three matches in five days is challenging, but I like that it has kept our
momentum going coming into this post season. I’m really excited how we’ve been
playing as of late,” Burleigh said. “I thought we did a good job regardless of
the tactic Auburn played whether it was the first half with a bunker or the
second half where they were kind of man-to-manning all over the field, our team
found a way to solve that.”
Tymrak,
who scored a goal in each of Florida’s three matches and also tallied three
assists during tournament play, picked up her second SEC Tournament MVP honor.
She also received the honor the last time UF won the tournament crown in 2010.
After her goal and two assists Sunday, Tymrak upped her career points total to
100 (31 goals, 38 assists).
“We’re
just so excited that we won the championship. We set goals for ourselves
throughout the season. Our first goal was the SEC title and we got that done,”
Tymrak said. “We came to Orange Beach with the goal to win the championship and
we got it done and I’m just really happy I could be part of it.”
Joining
her on the SEC All-Tournament team were King, Jo Dragotta and freshman Christen
Westphal. The same Gator quartet also earned All-SEC honors on Monday, with
Tymrak, King and Dragotta earning first team honors and Westphal being named to
the second team.
Dragotta left the field in the 53rd minute when
AU’s Ana Cate’s elbow hit her in the head. She was taken to a local hospital
and all tests came back normal. She returned to Gainesville with team.