GAINESVILLE, Florida – A tight opening half broke open in the second with four Gator goals as the University of Florida stayed perfect in Southeastern Conference play with a 5-1 win over Mississippi State Friday in front of a James G. Pressly Stadium crowd of 1,572.
| Friday's SEC Results |
| No. 5 Florida 5, Mississippi State 1 |
| No. 10 Texas A&M 6, Vanderbilt 2 |
| Arkansas 1, Tennessee 0 OT |
| Kentucky 1, South Carolina 0 |
| Auburn 3, No. 24 Missouri 2 |
| Alabama 3, LSU 2* |
| *played Thursday |
The Gators found themselves playing from behind after less than two minutes of action. The Bulldogs were awarded an early corner kick. The ball Hannah Smith sent to the middle of box was put in off the volley by Bulldog's goals leader Shannen Jainudeen.
Florida evened the score in the 10th minute. Tessa Andujar sent a centering ball to Savannah Jordan in the middle of the box. Jordan's shot was blocked and Havana Solaun touched the deflection back out to Jordan. Her next shot scored at the upper slot of the middle of the goal.
The second half scoring flurry started with Jordan's second goal of the match at 64:17. With a Bulldog on each hip, Jordan ran down Andujar's cross into the box and just got the scoring touch on the ball from nine yards.
For the second time in six days, Andujar scored a goal for the Gators. Meggie Dougherty Howard sent a ball from just inside the Bulldog half. Andujar beat her defender to get a touch on the ball with her left foot to score at 70:29.
Sophomore Brooke Sharp pushed the lead to 4-1 at 73:01. From low in the box, Andujar put the perfect touch on the ball to find Sharp just inside the top edge of the box. Her hard low shot from 10 yards scored at the far corner.
Florida's scoring finished when Liz Slattery and Betsy Middleton exchanged passes from above the box. Slattery returned the ball the Middleton, who was located just left of center above the box. Middleton's left-footed shot from 22 yards scored at the upper slot in the 84th minute.
Today's Gator Stars:
· In today's match, Andujar turned in four points off a goal and two assists – a career high match performance for the senior. This season, Andujar has turned in 13 points (two goals, nine assists). That is one point higher than her total points for her first three seasons combined.
· Jordan scores twice for the second time this season and the ninth time as a Gator. She leads Florida with 11 goals this season.
· Sharp's goal tonight is the fourth of 2014 and the fifth of her Florida career.
· Middleton raises her season total to three goals. Last year as a freshman at Miami (Florida), she turned in a one goal.
2014 Records:
Florida: 11-2, 6-0 SEC
Mississippi State: 3-10, 0-6 SEC
What the Gators Said:
Talk about how the team responded to the early goal and the overall performance tonight:
“That was big. It certainly wasn't the way we wanted to start the game but I thought it was a really good response from our team to come back to get that goal to equalize. Still took us a little longer than we would have liked to get ahead. I thought that second goal was a tough, physical goal by Savannah. Once we broke them down a little bit it was a little easier. Much different feel than last year when we had to go to overtime so really happy with the result.
“I think our team is pretty confident no matter what. To face that adversity early just gave us a chance to show our resilience and bounce back.
“We have a lot of depth. That depth, as well as our style of play, can wear a team down. Both of those factors showed in the second half.
“We talked at halftime about how this was going to be a game of execution and execution only happens when you are relaxed. We wanted to stay positive, we wanted to stay loose and make sure we didn't tighten up the longer the game went on.” – Florida head coach Becky Burleigh
Did you feel like you were in groove tonight after a goal and two assists?
“I think it is due to my teammates. They saw my runs. Annie Speese gave me two great balls and then Meggie [Dougherty Howard] gave me the ball to score. I think it is all due to my teammates finding me.” – senior defender Tessa Andujar
That is your second consecutive goal off your left foot. Are you secretly left-footed?
“No - I wish. I'm really working on it so hopefully I can keep improving on that left foot.” – senior defender Tessa Andujar
What happened on your goals?
Goal One
“Havana [Solaun] had it and it was kind of tangled between her and two other players. She got her toe on it and dished it out to me. I hit it one time, it went back to Havana and then she played it again. Then I hit it with the outside of my foot and looked for the near post.
Goal Two
“It was a good buildup and then Tessa [Andujar] served a great ball in. It missed the first defender and then it went over so I and the other girl collided. It kind of hit both of us and went in the goal. It was a great service by Tessa.” – sophomore forward Savannah Jordan
The team didn't seem fazed by giving up the early goal.
“I think our team is getting confidence after each game. We are just trying to improve each game and our motto this year is 'play every game like it's a championship game'.
“We knew Mississippi State was going to come out hard. Luckily, our team is confident in the way we play so when they scored, we just said 'hey, we know what we can do. Let's play this game the way we know we can play.'” – senior defender Tessa Andujar
How would you evaluate Tessa Andujar's impact on the game?
“That was a great goal. She's an offensive threat. I thought they tried to match-up with her pretty much the whole game and she still managed to break them down. Once again, another great performance.” – Florida head coach Becky Burleigh
The team had 23 shots. Was getting more shots something the team focused on in practice this week?
“Our team had worked this week on how we were going to play against Mississippi State because they are a pretty tough team to play against defensively. I think we did a good job with movement off the ball and creating chances. I think a lot of people on our team had great chances tonight and we created a lot, which is good.” – sophomore forward Savannah Jordan
Tonight was Alumni Night. What is it like meeting the Gators from the past?
“It is awesome meeting those players, knowing that they went through the same things we do. To hear advice from them and know that we have all their support is great. It is fun seeing them.” – sophomore forward Savannah Jordan
What do you think of the pink uniforms?
“They are really pretty. Pink is my favorite color so I love playing in them.” – senior defender Tessa Andujar
Worth Noting
● Andujar raises her team-leading assists total to nine in 2014. That total equals the Gators' individual season-high total for all of last season.
● The Gators put aside their orange and blue uniform options tonight to wear pink to show their support in the fight against breast cancer. This was Florida's sixth “Kicking for the Cure” match (first in 2009).
● It was also Soccer Alumni Night and many members of Florida's teams from its 20-year history were in attendance to cheer the latest edition of the Gators.
● Florida is now 13-2-1 all-time versus the Bulldogs, including 9-0 in Gainesville.
● The Bulldogs' goal at 1:17 is the earliest goal of the nine goals scored by UF opponents this season. The previous earliest goal surrendered was at Oklahoma (5:44).
● The five goals scored is the Gators' season high. The previous high came in 4-0 wins at Oklahoma State and at New Mexico.
Preseason Conference Votes:
Florida shared the 2013 Southeastern Conference title with Texas A&M as each team posted 9-2 league records. Mississippi State took 14th in the SEC with a 0-11 record.
Florida – The Gators are picked to win the Southeastern Conference.
Mississippi State – The Bulldogs are picked to take 14th in the SEC.
Rankings:
Florida is ranked No. 5 on the seventh National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll.
Next up:
The Gators are on the road next weekend for a pair of Southeastern Conference matches that will air on the SEC Network (Gainesville/Ocala Cox cable channel 68 or 1068). The weekend opens at South Carolina on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.
Then the Gators travel to Kentucky to face the Wildcats on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 4 p.m.
Kentucky defeated South Carolina 1-0 tonight in Lexington, Kentucky.
Listen to the call of both matches at GatorZone.com.
Mississippi State (3-10-0, 0-6-0) vs Florida (11-2-0, 6-0-0 SEC)
Stadium: James G. Pressly Stadium (1,572)
Weather: 87 F Wind E 6mph Humidity 56%
| Goals by Period | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Mississippi State | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Florida | 1 | 4 | 5 |
Scoring Summary
| No. | Time | Team | Goal Scorer | Assist | Description |
| 1. | 01:17 | MSU | Shannen Jainudeen (7) | Hannah Smith | 5 yards off the corner kick |
| 2. | 09:43 | UF | Savannah Jordan (10) | Havana Solaun | 6 yards off the block |
| 3. | 64:17 | UF | Savannah Jordan (11) | Tessa Andujar | 9 yards in front |
| 4. | 70:29 | UF | Tessa Andujar (2) | Meggie Dougherty Howard | 9 yards from the left |
| 5. | 73:01 | UF | Brooke Sharp (4) | Tessa Andujar | 10 yards from the right side |
| 6. | 83:37 | UF | Betsy Middleton (3) | Liz Slattery | 22 yards from the right side |
Shots: Mississippi State 5, Florida 23
Saves: Mississippi State 4 (Rhylee Decrane 4) , Florida 2 (Taylor Burke 2)
