Florida Gators

Photos by Todd J. Van Emst  

The No. 10 Gators (16-4-1, 11-2 SEC) advance to the 2012 Southeastern Conference Soccer Tournament final after taking a 3-0 win over Missouri (14-7, 8-5 SEC) in Friday's semifinal action at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.

Next up is a rematch of the 2011 SEC Tournament final, as Auburn upset No. 12 Texas A&M 2-0 in the first semifinal of the day. The Tigers defeated Florida 3-2 in the 2011 final. This will be the 14^th SEC Tournament appearance for Florida and the Gators lead the league with nine tournament titles.

A 40-second span in the first half led to a 2-0 lead off of Florida's first two shots of the match. A pass from the end line by senior All-American Erika Tymrak found sophomore Havana Solaun about eight yards above the far post. She hit a one-timer to put the Gators on the board at 18:09.

Then the pair reversed roles.

Soon after the kick off, the Gators gained control and moved the ball into the Tiger half. Solaun, from deep in the Tiger half, sent a ball to Tymrak at the top of the box. She struck a 25-yard shot to the far post upper corner for her seventh goal of the season.

The goal was the seventh for Tymrak, moving her into a tie for the Gators' season lead with fellow senior Jo Dragotta. It was also the 30^th of Tymrak's career, moving her into the select company of eight Gators who own 30 or more goals during their Florida careers.

Movement off the ball helped lead to the Gators' first two goals, Florida's Becky Burleigh said.

“I think for us when we pass the ball and we pass and move off of the ball it just really difficult for anyone to defend. We saw that all night there was chance after chance because we were getting in behind and our movement off the ball was good,” Burleigh said. “And when we do that we're a pretty good team.”

The goal by the Gainesville sophomore was predicted by Burleigh. Solaun said the early goal helped calm the Gators.

“I think getting an early goal really does help calm the team down, especially around such a high-pressure team. At the beginning of the game Becky came up to me and said “you know you're going to score you better get ready for your celebration,” and I was just like “Ok Becky,” Solaun said. “It was just nice to get an early goal to help the team relax.”

Solaun now shares second among the Gators in points (18) and third in goals (6).

Those quick goals weren't the only fireworks of the opening half. A total six cards were handed out in the first 45 minutes, with the Tigers on the receiving end of five of them. Missouri head coach Bryan Blitz was ejected at 23:44 after receiving his second yellow card.

Florida pushed the lead to 3-0 in the 57^th minute when a pair of All-SEC first team selections connected on a set piece. The Gators were awarded a free kick about 27 yards above the MU goal. Dragotta's low kick was touched in by Holly King at the far post for her fifth goal of the season.

Burleigh also credited the defensive effort of the Gators as they earned their seventh shutout of the season.

“I think defensively we came up with some big stops. I think Taylor Burke had a couple of really big saves,” Burleigh said. “Offensively we had a lot of chances.”

One of Burke's big saves came in the 71^st minute when Taiwo Adeshigbin took a curling 18-yard shot looking to score in the upper slot. Burke made the read on the ball's trajectory and pushed it out for a Tiger corner kick.

Sunday's final airs live on ESPNU (Gainesville/Ocala Cox cable 251) at 3:30 p.m.

The match can also be heard on ESPN 850/900, by simulcast on Cox Channel 946 (Gainesville/Ocala) or on www.GatorZone.com with Adam Schick calling the action.

Cautions: Kaysie Clark, MU/yellow (23:44), MU bench/yellow (23:44), MU bench/red (23:44), Taylor Grant, MU/yellow (31:35), Jo Dragotta, UF/yellow (34:55), Reagan Russell, MU/yellow (43:23); Dominiq Richardson, MU/yellow (83:32)