No. 23 Florida Meets Alabama in Southeastern Conference Soccer Tournament Semifinal Play Friday
Thursday, November 3, 2011 | Soccer
The No. 23 University of Florida (15-6, 7-4 SEC) and Alabama (10-7-3, 4-5-2 SEC) soccer teams meet Friday, Nov. 4 in the second semifinal match of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Match time is set for 8:30 p.m. ET at the Orange Beach SportsPlex.
| Friday's Match Info: |
| No. 4 seed Florida (15-6-0, 7-4-0 SEC) vs. No. 8 seed Alabama (10-7-3, 4-5-2 SEC) Date & Time: Nov. 4, 2011 @ 8:30 p.m. ET The Coaches: Becky Burleigh, 17th season @ UF (380-101-32/22nd season overall – 298-78-26/UF), Todd Bramble – 115-85-24/11 seasons overall & 35-34-7/fourth season at UA Television: none Radio: live on WRUF SportsRadio 850 Video: none Internet: live stats and audio for UF-UA match available on www.GatorZone.com Single Day Tickets: $5 adult; $2 children 12 and under. Contact the Orange Beach Parks and Recreation Department at (251) 981-6039 for further information. |
Florida is the SEC Tournament's No. 4 seed and Alabama is the No. 8 seed. For the first time in the SEC Tournament history, the top two seeds – No. 1 South Carolina and No. 2 LSU – were eliminated in first round action. Alabama stunned No. 19 South Carolina Wednesday with a 1-0 win, marking the first opening round exit for the tournament's No. 1 seed since LSU defeated Auburn in 2002. LSU dropped a 3-0 decision to Auburn in the 2011 SEC Tournament's opening match. The league's automatic berth to the 2011 NCAA Championship goes to the winner of the SEC Tournament.
The Gators needed to come from behind when they met Alabama on Oct. 9 at the James G. Pressly Stadium. 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 in 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 season. Senior Tahnai Annis finished the day's scoring in the 77th minute.
Annis scored both goals in the opening half in Florida's 2-0 win over Georgia in Wednesday's SEC Tournament opening round. The first started when goalkeeper Taylor Burke sent a ball to just above the Bulldog box. Senior Lindsay Thompson flicked the ball and Annis ran onto the ball, fighting through a pair of Bulldog defenders to get the scoring touch on the ball. The first corner kick awarded to the Gators resulted in the lead being pushed to 2-0 just seconds before halftime. Thompson took the corner and sent it to the middle of the box. Holly King headed the ball forward and several players from both sides compacted together to try to make a play on the loose ball. But it was Annis who got a foot on it to score her second goal of the half.
| Orange Beach Soccer Complex * Orange Beach, Ala. Nov. 2 – Opening Round Match 1 @ 1 p.m. (ET) – Auburn 3, LSU 0 Match 2 @ 3:30 p.m. (ET) – Tennessee 2, Kentucky 1 Match 3 @ 6:00 p.m. (ET) – Alabama 1, South Carolina 0 Match 4 @ 8:30 p.m. (ET) – Florida 2, Georgia 0 Nov. 4 – Semifinal Match 5 @ 6:00 p.m. (ET) –Auburn vs Tennessee Match 6 @ 8:30 p.m. (ET) – Florida vs Alabama Nov. 6 – Final Match 7 @ 3:30 p.m. (ET) – Winners of Match 5 vs 6 |
Alabama took eighth in the final SEC standings with its 4-5-2 record. The Tide claimed a tournament berth with a 3-2 home win over Auburn in the regular-season finale on Oct. 28. Alabama avenged its 4-1 loss at South Carolina on Oct. 7 to advance to the SEC Tournament semifinal for the first time since 1998. Sophomore Molly Atherton scored the only goal of the match in the 30th minute. The Tide is unbeaten in its last four matches, with three wins and a 2-2 tie at Georgia. Redshirt freshman Theresa Diederich leads Alabama with 15 points off of seven goals and an assist. Senior goalkeeper Justine Bernier turned in seven saves in Wednesday's win against the Gamecocks. She was on the Canadian National Team roster when they played the U.S. in a pair of friendly matches in September.
Although Florida leads all league teams with nine SEC Tournament titles, only the 2007 and 2010 titles came at the Orange Beach SportsPlex. Seven of the last eight SEC Tournaments have been held in Orange Beach, Ala. The Gators advanced to the tournament final four times in Orange Beach, with Tennessee taking a penalty kick decision after the two teams tied 1-1 20T in the 2003 final and the Gators lost 2-1 to Kentucky in the 2006 final. The last two appearances in the final have resulted in the Gators hoisting the trophy, taking the 2007 (4-1 versus Georgia) and 2010 (1-0 versus South Carolina) SEC Tournament titles. Florida has advanced to the SEC Tournament final 12 of its 16 SEC Tournament appearances.
Friday's match can be heard on WRUF SportsRadio 850, by simulcast on Cox Channel 946 (Gainesville/Ocala) or on www.GatorZone.com with Adam Schick calling the action.
