Florida Gators

Three first-time collegiate goals gave the No. T-18 University of Florida soccer team (1-0-1) a 3-1 victory over Kennesaw State (1-1) Sunday afternoon in front of a James G. Pressly crowd of 1,121.

Junior Ashley Harris hit her first collegiate goal to open the scoring for UF in the first half. The ball was loose in the box, but freshman Ashlee Elliott saved the ball from going out. Her cross to Harris allowed Harris to hit the shot from five yards at 9:51.

"I thought the ball was going out of bounds, but Ashlee saved it. She crossed it and I didn't think I'd get there in time. But I got there and took the shot,” Harris said. “I didn't think 'I got my first collegiate goal!' I was just happy to score and was hoping we would score more goals.”

The Owls took advantage of a free kick opportunity to tie the match at 12:18. Maylee Attin-Johnson played a short ball out to the side of the wall, where Laura Tucker took a hard shot that slid in at the near post.

“That was a bad on our part for the set piece. We have to be a lot sharper than that,” UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. “It was a soft goal. We don't want to get into the habit of giving up soft goals.”

The match was tied at 1-all at halftime, but scores by two freshmen in the second half put the Gators up for good. Angela Napolitano found herself at the top of the box when the KSU defenders were having trouble. She saw her opening and quickly took advantage to hit her first collegiate goal at 55:16.

"One of the center backs was having some trouble and bobbled the ball,” Napolitano said. “I stepped up and played it to the near post."

Elliott added a goal in the second half to give her both a goal and an assist for the match. She saw her chance when junior Erin Davis took a 20-yard shot that KSU goalkeeper Staci Pugh caught, but her momentum was carrying her over the goal line, forcing her to toss the ball back into play. Elliott was in the six-yard box and put the ball in for her first Gator goal at 72:03.

“We talked about following up on our shots, and we knew if we did that we'd have a chance to score. That's exactly what happened on (Elliot's) goal. Angela Napolitano's goal was a heads-up play defensively and she worked hard to get that goal,” Burleigh said. “There were some good plays by the young players and it was nice to get some more people in there today. That will help us in the long run.”

The Gators opened the season Friday with a 1-1 2OT with defending NCAA champion and current No. 1 Portland. Burleigh was pleased with what she saw this weekend, but knows the Gators have work to do.

“We're happy coming out of the weekend. We'd like to have taken the Portland game because both teams had a chance to win that game. We'll take it, and we just need to keep rolling and getting better,” Burleigh said. “We've got a lot of areas to improve upon, and that's going to be our focus this week.”

The Gators continue their home stand by playing host to Fresno State Friday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. Friday's match can be heard on WRUF-AM 850 and live, streaming video is available at www.Gatorvision.tv. The first 1,000 fans at Friday's match will receive a Gator soccer hat courtesy of Gatorade.