No. 12 Florida Faces Vanderbilt Friday at Pressly Stadium; Firework Display Set for Post-Match
Wednesday, September 28, 2011 | Soccer
The No. 12 Florida soccer team (8-3, 1-1 SEC) returns home after a four-match road stretch to begin a four-match home stand Friday, Sept. 30 versus Southeastern Conference Eastern Division rival Vanderbilt (6-4, 0-2 SEC). Match time is set for 7p.m. at the James G. Pressly Stadium and admission is free for all Gator soccer regular-season matches. The match airs live on FS-Florida (Gainesville/Ocala Cox Cable channel 70 or 1070).
| Friday's Match Info: |
| No. 12 Florida (8-3-0, 1-1-0 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (6-4, 0-2 SEC)
Date & Time: Sept. 30, 2011 @ 7 p.m. ET Television: live on FS-Florida (Gainesville/Ocala Cox Cable channel 70 or 1070) Radio: none Video: live streaming video & audio available on GatorVision Internet: live stats and audio for UF-VU match available on www.GatorZone.com Tickets: free admission Parking Shuttle: A parking shuttle will start running at 6 p.m. from Garage IX, across Archer Road near the VA Hospital and will take soccer fans to the corner of Stadium and Woodlawn Drive. Look for signs that say “Soccer Game Day Shuttle” for the pick-up and drop-off points. The shuttle runs through 30 minutes after the post-match fireworks display. Match Promotions: Florida Seat Cushion Giveaway – the first 500 fans will receive a FREE Florida Seat Cushion; Post-Game Fireworks – stick around after the match for a post-game fireworks display; Alumni Weekend –More than 30 past members of the Gator soccer team will be in attendance at this weekend's matches; Soccer Collies – the incredible soccer-playing collie duo will be on hand before the match and at halftime to show that not only can Gators play soccer, but dogs can too! Come out and play with the collies before the match. For a complete list of promotions for Friday's match, please visit the Gator Outlook. |
The first 500 fans Friday receive a free Florida seat cushion. Among the fans Friday will be more than 30 past Gator soccer players, who are in town for Alumni Weekend. Fans will want to stay in their Pressly Stadium seats to have the best viewing of the post-match fireworks display.
A parking shuttle is available for Friday's match, as traffic is expected to be heavy in the area due to the same start time for the match and the Dierks Bentley concert. The shuttle will start running at 6 p.m. from Garage IX, across Archer Road near the VA Hospital, up Gale Lemerand Drive and west on Stadium Road to the corner of Stadium and Woodlawn Drive. Look for signs that say “Soccer Game Day Shuttle” for the pick-up and drop-off points.
Home action will be welcome for this well-traveled Gator team. In Florida's first 11 matches of 2011, eight have been played on the road. That is the highest number of road contests through the opening 11 matches for Florida in the program's 17-year history (previous high: seven road matches in 1998 and 2002 seasons).
Florida and Vanderbilt met twice in 2010. Florida used goals by Taylor Travis and McKenzie Barney to take a 2-0 win over the Commodores in Nashville during the regular season. In the opening round of the SEC Tournament, the Gators led 1-0 at halftime, but in the second half, the two teams combined to score seven goals. The match was tied at three-all in the 83rd minute before Barney and Tahnai Annis scored their second goals of the match to give UF a 5-3 win. Erika Tymrak scored UF's third goal of the match.
The Gators split in the opening weekend of SEC action. Florida opened conference play Friday at Georgia with a 1-0 win, ending the Bulldogs five-match win streak. Tymrak scored the only goal of the match in the 70th minute. The Bulldogs had chances to score, but perhaps none as dangerous as the 35-yard strike by Jenna Owens in the final minute. UF freshman goalkeeper Taylor Burke showed why she will be joining the Gator track & field team in the spring as a high jumper, leaping to get a hand on the ball. She pushed the ball into the crossbar and it bounced down into the field of play where she gathered it up to end the tying threat.
At No. 12 Tennessee on Sunday, the Gators fell behind early and saw the Lady Vols build a 3-0 halftime lead. Tymrak scored on a penalty kick early in the second half, pushing her team-leading season goals total to eight. In the 65th minute, freshman Havana Solaun scored on an unassisted goal to cut the UT lead to a single goal. UT's Alexis Owens finished off her first collegiate hat-trick in the 86th minute to give the Lady Vols the final 4-2 score.
Vanderbilt opened SEC play with a pair of shutout road losses. The Commodores lost 2-0 at Alabama on Friday and dropped a 3-0 decision at No. 20 Auburn on Sunday. The Commodores won four of its five matches leading up to league play, including wins at USF (1-0), versus College of Charleston (2-0), Middle Tennessee State (1-0) and Samford (2-0). Senior Candace West leads VU with three goals and one assist for seven points. Derek Greene is the Commodores interim head coach, being elevated to the position from assistant coach when Ronnie Woodard announced her retirement on July 29, 2011. Woodard was the Commodores' head coach for 10 seasons.
Friday's match can be heard on www.GatorZone.com with Adam Schick calling the action. Live streaming video of Friday's match is also available on GatorVision.
