No. 11 Florida Soccer Begins Three-Match Road Stretch Friday at Mississippi
Friday, October 14, 2011 | Soccer
The No. 11 Florida soccer team (12-3, 5-1 SEC) begins its final three road matches of the regular season with a weekend in the Magnolia State. The Gators open play Friday when it faces Mississippi (5-8-1, 1-5 SEC) in Oxford, Miss. The match is the third consecutive live Friday appearance for the Gators on FS-Florida (Gainesville/Ocala Cox Cable channel 70 or 1070).
| Friday's Match Info: |
| No. 11 Florida (12-3-0, 5-1-0 SEC) at Mississippi (5-8-1, 1-5 SEC) Date & Time: Oct. 14, 2011 @ 8 p.m. ET Television: live on FS-Florida (Gainesville/Ocala Cox Cable channel 70 or 1070) Radio: none Video: live streaming video available on Rebel Vision Internet: live stats and audio for UF-UM match available on www.GatorZone.com Tickets: free admission |
In the 2010 meeting, the Gators took a 3-0 win at the James G. Pressly Stadium. The Rebels gave up an own goal in the 20th minute. Then senior Nicky Kit hit her first goal of the season in the 74th minute. McKenzie Barney extended her school-record home appearances with a goal to nine when she scored at 89:34 to give UF its final margin.
Florida came from behind twice Friday to open the weekend with a 3-2 overtime win over No. 22 Auburn. Junior Erika Tymrak played a part in every Gator goal Friday, scoring twice in regulation and sending the final pass which led to Barney's golden goal in the 97th minute. Tymrak tied the match in the 49th minute (eight yard shot) and again in the 58th minute (18 yard shot). She and Holly King combined to assist Barney on her second career golden goal, which came off a left-footed six-yard shot. Tymrak now has team-highs of 11 goals and 27 points. Her season points tally is two better and goals total is five better than her previous highs set in 2010.
The match was the first overtime for the Florida in 2011, marking the longest season opening stretch without OT since the 1996 team, which wasn't pushed to extended time until the 22nd match of the season.
The Gators needed to come from behind again on Sunday, taking a 4-1 win over Alabama. The Tide scored off a free kick header in the 21st minute. Freshman Annie Speese scored her first of two goals to tie the match in the 38th minute. Florida scored three goals within a seven minute second-half span to earn the final margin. Freshman Jillian Graff chipped over the goalkeeper to score her first collegiate goal in the 71st minute. Speese scored on an 18-yard free kick in the 73rd minute to give her the third double-goal match of the last eight matches. Senior Tahnai Annis finished the day's scoring with a short shot off the Graff cross in the 77th minute.
Tymrak's 11 goals have all come in UF's last 13 matches. She shares the SEC season goals lead with Georgia sophomore Alexa Newfield. For her play last weekend, Tymrak was named to CollegeSoccer360 Primetime Performers list for Oct. 10. Four of freshman Havana Solaun's season-leading six assists have come in the last four matches and her total shares seventh in the league. Speese is second among the Gators with seven goals and is tied for eighth in the league.
Mississippi is 5-8-1 in 2011. The Rebels lost twice on the road last weekend. UM led 3-0 at half, but dropped a 4-3 OT decision at Tennessee on Friday. Georgia claimed a 3-0 win on Sunday. Mississippi sophomore Rafaelle Souza is fifth in the league with nine goals.
Friday's match can be heard on www.GatorZone.com with Adam Schick calling the action.
