Florida Gators
Vanderbilt
No. 8 Florida Soccer Finishes Regular Season with 6-1 Win over Vanderbilt
Friday, October 31, 2014 | Soccer
GAINESVILLE, Florida – A season-high goals total from six different Gators gave the University of Florida soccer team a 6-1 win over Vanderbilt Thursday evening at the James G. Pressly Stadium.
| Thursday's SEC Results |
| No. 8 Florida 6, Vanderbilt 1 |
| No. 20 South Carolina 3, Mississippi State 0 |
| Tennessee 3, Mississippi 2 2OT |
| No. 24 Kentucky 2, Alabama 1 |
| Missouri 2, Arkansas 1 |
| No. 7 Texas A&M 2, Georgia 1 |
| Auburn 2, LSU 0 |
The match, which was the regular-season finale for both teams, was delayed 1:20 due to lightning in the Gainesville area.
Florida will finish second in the Southeastern Conference standings with its 9-2 league record. Texas A&M, a 2-1 winner over Georgia on Thursday, takes the SEC title with its 9-1-1 record.
Florida scored early in the opening half. Havana Solaun sent the ball out wide to Lauren Silver along the left sideline. She crossed the ball to the far post where Savannah Jordan touched it back to Solaun near the top of the box. Solaun took a low shot which was redirected into the center of the goal by sophomore Pamela Begič at 4:01. It was the Gators' second quickest goal of the season.
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| 2014 SEC Standings (as of Oct. 30, 2014 - Final) | ||||
| TEAM | SEC | Pts. | OVERALL | PCT. |
| Texas A&M | 9-1-1 | 28 | 15-2-2 | .842 |
| Florida | 9-2-0 | 27 | 14-4-0 | .778 |
| Kentucky | 8-3-0 | 24 | 13-5-0 | .722 |
| Missouri | 6-4-1 | 19 | 11-5-3 | .658 |
| South Carolina | 5-3-3 | 18 | 12-4-3 | .711 |
| Auburn | 5-3-3 | 18 | 11-5-3 | .658 |
| Alabama | 5-4-2 | 17 | 10-6-3 | .605 |
| Georgia | 5-5-1 | 16 | 10-6-1 | .618 |
| Arkansas | 4-4-3 | 15 | 8-6-5 | .553 |
| Tennessee | 4-6-1 | 13 | 9-9-1 | .500 |
| Mississippi | 3-4-4 | 13 | 8-6-5 | .553 |
| Vanderbilt | 2-7-2 | 8 | 7-10-2 | .421 |
| LSU | 1-9-1 | 4 | 5-13-2 | .300 |
| Mississippi State | 0-11-0 | 0 | 3-15-0 | .167 |
| NOTE: Teams below line do not advance to Orange Beach, Ala. | ||||
| 2014 SEC Tournament Schedule | ||||
| Orange Beach Soccer Complex * Orange Beach, Ala. | ||||
| Nov. 3 – Opening Round | ||||
| Match 1 @ 4:30 p.m. ET – Seed #7 Alabama vs Seed #10 Tennessee | ||||
| Match 2 @ 7 p.m. ET – Seed #8 Georgia vs Seed #9 Arkansas | ||||
| Nov. 5 – Second Round | ||||
| Match 3 @ 1 p.m. (ET) – Seed #2 Florida vs Winner-M1 | ||||
| Match 4 @ 3:30 p.m. (ET) – Seed #3 Kentucky vs Seed #6 Auburn | ||||
| Match 5 @ 6:00 p.m. (ET) - Seed #1 Texas A&M vs Winner-M2 | ||||
| Match 6 @ 8:30 p.m. (ET) – Seed #4 Missouri vs Seed #5 South Carolina | ||||
The Gators' second goal started when Jillian Graff put a cross into the box from deep in the Commodore half. Meggie Dougherty Howard made a touch at the near post but it was deflected across the mouth of the goal. The ball came back to Dougherty Howard, who used her right foot to score at the near post in the 33rd minute.
Vanderbilt's Simone Charley put the Commodores on the board in the 41st minute when she ran down the ball from Lydia Simmons to score from four yards.
The final goal of the opening half started off a corner kick. The ball bounced around and Betsy Middleton was in the middle of a challenge to keep the ball from going out the endline. The ball popped back into the field where Silver won it from a VU player. She took a left-footed shot from just above the endline, which deflected off a Commodore into the goal at the near post.
The first goal of the second half started with a punt from Gator goalkeeper Taylor Burke that went past midfield. A VU player headed it but the ball moved toward the VU endline and Jordan ran it down as the ball headed toward goal. She won the challenge for the ball with a VU defender and then made a slanted run to score at the far post corner in the 53rd minute.
Solaun added a goal in the 56th minute. Christen Westphal sent a square ball to Jordan, who had back to goal in the middle of the box and was flanked by two defenders. Jordan touched the ball up to Solaun, who took the right-footed shot. VU goalkeeper Christina Ogunsami tried to make the stop, but the momentum of the shot carried through her hands into the goal.
With less than a minute remaining, Liz Slattery pushed the score to 6-1. Fellow sophomore Brooke Sharp had the ball just above the box when she spun to lay the ball off the Slattery making a run down the middle of the field. Slattery took a couple of touches and then tucked an 10-yard right-footed shot in at the right post.
Gator Stars
● Begič, making her first start since the SEC opener at Alabama on Sept. 19, scored her second goal of the season tonight to open the Gators' scoring.
● Dougherty Howard turned in her first goal of the season, giving Florida a total of 13 players to score goals in 2014. That is the highest number of different goal scorers for Florida of the last three seasons. In 2013, 11 had turned in a goal through 18 matches.
● Tonight's goal was the second of 2014 for Silver, giving the outside back a career-high season total for goals. She has now equaled her career-high total of six points (set in 2013).
● Jordan scored her 15th goal of the season, which leads the SEC. She has turned in at least one goal in eight of the last 10 matches.
● Solaun is second among the Gators with six goals and 19 points. She has now turned in both a goal and an assist in three matches this season (vs Missouri, at LSU, vs Vanderbilt).
● Three goals sets a career season total for Slattery, who turned in a pair of goals as a freshman in 2013. All three of her goals have come in SEC play (at Alabama, at Arkansas, vs Vanderbilt).
● Burke was credited with the assist on Jordan's goal. It is the second assist in the goalkeeper's career and first since earning one on UF's first goal versus Georgia in the 2011 SEC Tournament. Only two Gator goalkeepers have earned assists, with Brittni Goodwin earning the first against Jacksonville in 2006.
2014 Records:
Florida: 14-4, 9-2 SEC
Vanderbilt: 7-10-2, 2-7-2 SEC
What the Gators Said:
On ending the regular season with three-straight wins…
“I think we had another great team effort, just like Sunday. We had good contributions from a lot of different people and again, I think we were able to showcase our depth.” – Florida head coach Becky Burleigh
On being able to play a lot of players knowing with the SEC Tournament next week…
“We hope to make a deep run in the SEC Tournament, which has the potential of us playing three games in five days. So the more we can have some recovery and rest, the better. I thought it was a perfect situation for us tonight.” – Florida head coach Becky Burleigh
On the teams' effort throughout the entire match, despite the big lead…
“I think that our reserves are really good. Our depth is excellent and I think that they want to show that, so we're certainly not trying to hold them back.” – Florida head coach Becky Burleigh
On seeing Meggie Dougherty Howard getting her first goal of the season…
“It was a good goal, I mean, it was scrappy – just finding a way to put it in the back of the net when at the beginning of the game, they were doing a good job of holding us off the score board.” – Florida head coach Becky Burleigh
On the delay…
No, the delay didn't bother us. I think after the start of the season, we've joked that we will always start how we finished, with rain delays. This was nothing new for us. I think we learned how to deal with these type of delays in the past.” – senior midfielder Havana Solaun
On the three-match winning streak…
“It's good that we've have been able to put up so many numbers, goal-wise. It means we are creating a lot of opportunities and we are putting them into the back of the net. So that is something that is really good that we can hopefully take with us into the SEC Tournament.” – sophomore midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard
On what being the 13th Gator to score a goal this season means…
“For sure we are proud of that. I think it's another way for us to show our depth and how many talented people we have on the team.” – sophomore midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard
Hear from the Gator goal scorers:
Goal 1
“I think Havana [Solaun] shot it and it was a weird shot and I was standing in front of the goal and I honestly thought I was offside, but I just was able to put it in. I looked at the linesman and he looked back at me like, you're good to go. I'll take it.” – sophomore midfielder Pam Begič
Goal 2
“I can't remember exactly, but Jill [Graff] took it down the line and played a really good ball. I just missed it on my initial near-post run. But it just came back to me and I tried to put it on frame and it went in.” – sophomore midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard
Goal 3
“We had been practicing different corners for this game in particular and we tried it. So I kind of just drove a ball into the box and Meggie played it back to me and I kind of just put it in the goal. There were a lot of people in there.” – senior outside back Lauren Silver
Goal 4
“It came off of TB's [Taylor Burke] punt and the defender headed it and instead of hitting it forward, it skimmed off the top of her head and I just ran on to it. The goalkeeper and another defender came on to it and there was some miscommunication on their part and the ball ended up going near the six-yard line. I just slid in for it and finished it.” – sophomore forward Savannah Jordan
Goal 5
“Christen [Westphal] got inside the 18 and she played it across to Savannah [Jordan]. Savannah than had two people on her back and she played it off to me perfectly and I was just 10-yards out and I was able to touch it away.” – senior midfielder Havana Solaun
Goal 6
“Pam [Begič] got the ball in the middle circle and we played a quick return pass and I made a quick turn off the pass. I saw Brooke [Sharp] one touch with the ball. She cut across the field dribbling and she saw nothing outside, so she cut back. I just continued my run behind her and she just played a quick little run behind her and I took a touch towards the lower post.” – sophomore midfielder Liz Slattery
On her excitement on scoring due to the fact she missed a header earlier…
“I can't believe that didn't go in. Brooke Smith played an unbelievable ball and I went up for it thinking, “Yes, this is mine!”, and I just barely missed it. But it's OK, I made up for it.” – sophomore midfielder Liz Slattery
Series Record
Florida is now 23-2-1 all-time versus the Commodores, including 10-1 in Gainesville.
2014 SEC Standings:
With its 2-1 win tonight versus Georgia, No. 7 Texas A&M wins the SEC title with 28 points off its 9-1-1 record. Florida finishes second with 27 points off its 8-2 record. Teams are awarded three points for a win and one point for a tie.
Rankings:
Florida is ranked No. 8 on the 10th National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll.
Next up:
The Gators will be in Orange Beach, Alabama, for the Southeastern Conference Tournament at the Orange Beach Sportsplex. Florida opens play on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. ET versus the winner of Monday's match against Alabama and Tennessee.
All SEC Tournament matches up to the final can be seen on the SEC Network. The championship match airs Sunday, Nov. 9 at 3 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
All of the Gators' SEC Tournament matches can be heard at GatorZone.com.
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| @UFGatorSoccer (Becky Burleigh) |
Vanderbilt (7-10-2, 2-7-2 SEC) at Florida (14-4, 9-2 SEC)
Stadium: James G. Pressly Stadium (389)
Weather: 66 Degrees, Calm (1:20 lightning delay)
| Goals by Period | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Florida | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Vanderbilt | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Scoring Summary
| No. | Time | Team | Goal Scorer | Assist | Description |
| 1. | 04:01 | UF | Pamela Begic (2) | Havana Solaun, Savannah Jordan | Redirect 4 yards out |
| 2. | 32:35 | UF | Meggie Dougherty Howard (1) | 3 yard tap in | |
| 3. | 40:33 | VU | Simone Charley (9) | Lydia Simmons, Brittney Thomas | 7 yard |
| 4. | 43:24 | UF | Lauren Silver (2) | 5yds from left of goal | |
| 5. | 52:44 | UF | Savannah Jordan (15) | Taylor Burke | Beats the keeper; tap in from right 4yds |
| 6. | 55:47 | UF | Havana Solaun (6) | Savannah Jordan, Christen Westphal | 10 yard |
| 7. | 89:21 | UF | Liz Slattery (3) | Brooke Sharp | 10 yards |
Shots: Vanderbilt 4, Florida 19
Saves: Vanderbilt 7 (Christiana Ogunsami 7), Florida 0
