Florida Gators

A free kick goal with seconds remaining in the opening half was all the No. 8 University of Florida soccer team (15-2-2, 9-1-1 SEC) needed to claim its 11th Southeastern Conference title. Florida claimed a 1-0 win at No. 17 South Carolina (14-4-2, 8-2-1 SEC) Friday evening in front of a Eugene E. Stone III Stadium crowd of 2,548 – the sixth largest ever to watch a women's match at USC. The SEC title is the fifth consecutive for the Gator program.

The first goal of the match came just before halftime. Florida was awarded a free kick with 10 seconds remaining, but the referee stopped the clock with five second showing to allow the teams to set up. Senior Nicky Kit took the shot from 20 yards. It hit the near post and kicked in with just two seconds showing on the scoreboard clock. The goal was Kit's second on the year.

Before the kick, Kit had a feeling it was going to score.

“The clock was stopped so I told myself to take my time and I went through everything Coach Vic (Campbell) taught me: to use my leg, don't aim – just kick it because you know where you are going to kick it,” Kit said. “I knew I was going to score.”

“There is this feeling of energy,” she said. “It is like a clearing and everything goes quiet. That was literally what it was. It was very exciting. I was so happy to help my team.”

The Gators' three seniors – Ashlee Elliott, Katie Fraine and Kit – were a part of a SEC championship team every year of their Florida careers. For Elliott and Fraine, the number is five SEC titles as Elliott redshirted the 2009 season and a broken finger sidelined Fraine for the 2006 campaign.

The best scoring chance for the Gamecocks came in the 58^th minute when Florida was called for obstruction two paces inside the UF box. Junior Kayla Grimsley, the SEC goals leader, took the shot off the indirect free kick. Fraine tipped the shot over the cross bar for a corner kick. The shutout extended Fraine's school-record career record for solo shutouts to 25.

Florida and South Carolina each claimed SEC titles in 2009. The two teams also met last year in the regular season finale with the league title on the line. Florida took the 2009 SEC regular-season title with a 3-0 win over USC. A week later, the two programs met again in the 2009 SEC Tournament semifinal round, with the Gamecocks taking the 1-0 win which advanced them to the SEC Tournament final. USC won its first SEC Tournament title in 2009 with an 8-7 advantage over LSU in penalty kicks. This year, both teams entered Friday's match with identical league records and nearly identical season records. All indications pointed to a tough match for Friday's meeting, which was exactly how the contest played out.

UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh, the only coach in the program's 16-year history, said this win was big for the team.

“It feels great. I am really, really happy for the seniors. Nicky scored the winning goal. Ashlee and Katie won their fifth SEC title, which is unprecedented,” Burleigh said. “So it is just really exciting for our entire team.

“It was a hard-fought battle and we would have expected nothing less,” she continued. “We knew it wasn't going to be easy going on the road in the SEC with two top teams playing against each other. We are really excited to have a SEC title in our hands.”

The Gators now head to the SEC Tournament which begins Wednesday, Nov. 3 in Orange Beach, Ala. Florida will open play at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 3 versus Vanderbilt. The Gators have won eight SEC Tournament titles with the last coming in 2007.

Cautions:Jazmyne Avant (UF) 38:02/yellow

Photo gallery by Rick Chapman