COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 11 University of Florida soccer team completed its third consecutive undefeated Southeastern Conference regular season on Sunday with a 3-0 win at South Carolina. That mark earns Florida the league's first SEC regular-season title for soccer as all previous years, the tournament champion was recognized as league champion. The Gators finish the 2000 regular season with a 13-7, 9-0 SEC record, while the Gamecocks finish the season 4-16, 1-8 SEC. The win extends the Gators' SEC win streak to 42 consecutive matches – the nation's longest current conference winning streak.
Florida freshman
Megan McMillan provided the only scoring for the opening half. Junior
Andi Sellers found McMillan alone on the left side of the box and she hit the 12-yard shot at 40:49.
Sellers turned in two goals within the first 10 minutes of the second half. Her first came at 46:39 when she hit a low shot to the far post from the top of the box. She scored again at 53:15, one-touching the deep cross from
Jill Stevens to just beat USC goalkeeper Jessica Freas who was charging off her line to stop the play.
Florida played without junior All-American
Abby Wambach and All-SEC sophomore
Danielle Murphy for the final match of the regular season. Wambach sat out Sunday's match after picking up her fifth yellow card of the season Friday at Clemson. Murphy missed the weekend as she has joined the English National Team for a match to be played Monday in the Ukraine. She will rejoin the Gators at the SEC Tournament.
"I knew we would have somewhat of a challenge today missing
Abby Wambach and
Danielle Murphy," UF Head Coach
Becky Burleigh said. "We never really played with the good rhythm that we wanted. That was one thing I was a bit disappointed in. We were doing a lot of standing and watching today. We need to be a bit sharper. I'm sure South Carolina had something to do with that – they have some good players, especially in the midfield. But getting a shutout and scoring three goals, we certainly are happy about that."
"We were happy to complete the SEC Regular season undefeated," she continued. "That was one of our goals at the beginning of the season. Now we need to focus on the SEC Tournament."
Florida goalkeeper
Jordan Kellgren turned in nine saves. USC's starting keeper Jessica Freas posted five saves, while Elise Matthews turned in one.
The Gators now start SEC Tournament play on Thursday, Nov. 2 at noon vs. Arkansas in Athens, Ga. Florida is the top seed for the 2000 SEC Tournament and the four-time defending tournament champion.
Florida at South Carolina
Oct. 29, 2000
Eugene E. Stone III Field (603)
Columbia, S.C.
Match: Florida vs. South Carolina
Scoring Summary: 1
st 2
nd Final
Florida 1 2 3
South Carolina 0 0 0
Scoring:
UF –
Megan McMillan (
Andi Sellers) 40:59
UF –
Andi Sellers 46:39
UF – Sellers (
Jill Stevens) 53:15
Statistical Summary: UF USC
Shots 13 16
Saves 9 7
Corner Kicks 8 4
Fouls 7 10
Offside 3 1
