TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 4 University of Florida women's soccer team defeated Alabama 3-1 Friday evening in front of a rowdy UA Soccer Complex crowd of 523. The Gators now owns a 15-1 record, 7-0 SEC, while Alabama drops to 9-5-1, 5-2 SEC.
"We had trouble finishing tonight," UF Head Coach
Becky Burleigh said. "It was a physical match, as it always is when these two teams play, but I don't think that was a big factor."
Florida had plenty of looks at the goal in the first half, but the Gators didn't get one across the line until the 10
th shot. Junior
Sarah Yohe hit a short shot off UA goalkeeper Rachel Brown's deflection at 43:44 to give the Gators a 1-0 lead at halftime. The Gators held the Crimson Tide to zero shots in the opening half of play.
Yohe struck again for the Gators at 62:08 off the assist from
Karyn Hall to put UF up 2-0. But the Crimson Tide's Melissa McGee hit a 10-yard shot to the far post just 53 seconds later to narrow UF's lead to 2-1. UF's
Danielle Fotopoulos gave the Gators some additional breathing room late in the match, hitting a running short shot off the pass from Yohe at 86:11.
Florida goalkeeper
Meredith Flaherty recorded two saves in Friday's match, while UA's Brown registered 12 saves. For the match, UF outshot UA 21-5.
Next up, the Gators travel to Columbia, S.C., to meet South Carolina on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 3 p.m.
