Speese, Seniors Will Gators Into Elite Eight
Monday, November 24, 2014 | Soccer
RJ Schaffer
Gatorzone.com Writing Intern
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It happened before Annie Speese could even realize what was going on.
“It's kind of a blur,” she said. "I just took the shot and I think time stood still for a little. When it went in, we were just all so excited."
After having a two-goal lead over Texas Tech erased after halftime, Florida leaned on the poise and determination of players like Speese, the senior striker who netted the game-deciding goal with just under nine minutes to play, to push through and for a 3-2 win in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 round Sunday at Dizney Stadium.
The win moved second-seeded UF (17-4-1) into the Elite Round for the first time since 2003, with the Gators hitting the road to face top-seeded Stanford (20-1-2) next Friday in the NCAA Quarterfinal Round.
Speese got a pass from midfielder Christen Westphal, got a look at midfielder Lauren Smith crashing toward the net, which was enough to draw a defender, then launched a high, arching shot that shot just inches past the outstretched arms of Red Raiders keeper Lauren Watson and into the back corner of the net.
The act of accuracy kept alive a season that had been fueled by the play of seniors all along.
“Extremely excited to be moving on,” UF coach Becky Burleigh said. “I think the most rewarding part of that for me is the ability of this team to stay together for more games. It's just been such a fulfilling season already to be with this group and I think today, in particular, it was like a microcosm of our season.”
Speese and company could have made the game a lot less stressful than what it turned out to be. For most of the first half, the Gators could do little wrong.
After the first 10 minutes of the contest were spent figuring out how to bypass the heavy midfield play utilized by both sides, it was none other than senior Havana Solaun who opened the scoring with her eighth goal of the season in the 13th minute with an assist from sophomore forward Savannah Jordan.
Jordan was only just getting warmed up as she added her own name to the goal tally after heading in a Speese free kick to make it 2-0.
Everything seemed to be in play for Florida to finally eclipse all of the past heartbreaks -- 10 straight years without reaching the Round of 8 -- and cruise to a solid victory at home.
Then the rain came.
The Red Raiders, too.
How much of an impact the rain may have had on the Gators can't be told, but it got heavy at times near the end of the first half and it allowed Texas Tech's Sara Summers to sneak a goal in from 18 yards out to cut the deficit in half at 36:25.
Any halftime adjustments that may have been made didn't show any immediate benefits as Florida seemed to run into itself to start the second half. That culminated with third-seeded Texas Tech (16-4-2) capitalizing on the inconsistency to make it a brand new game at 2-2 after the Red Raider's Janine Beckle scored a highlight-reel goal when she launched the ball after one bounce directly after a long cross from Jaelene Hinkle.
Time to panic? Not from this group of seniors.
“Every game that we get to play with each other is so exciting,” Solaun said. “It's a special group, and I think what's so special about us is that we all love playing with each other and for each other. In games like today … it's not all about the skill when the effort comes in and you just love playing for the person next to you. It is games like this that it shows.”
The cohesiveness amongst the group smothered any kind of momentum that Texas Tech had hoped to build after getting that second goal.
After continuously ramping up the pressure and the shot total, the Red Raiders finally tied the Gators in shots at seven on the second goal -- but that would be all.
The Gators got right back to the style of play in the first half and outshot the opposition 5-0 in the final quarter of the match to keep the pressure on and preserve the victory.
If the first 10 minutes were used for both teams to decide how the match was destined to be played, the last 10 minutes were Florida's shot to show how much deeper the Gators could go. They just never gave Tech a chance to even things up.
In fact, Florida nearly added to the lead after shots from Jordan and Solaun in the final seven minutes both had nice looks (and shots) at the net.
Whether its Jordan's quick breakaways, Solaun taking control in midfield or, in this case, Speese using an impossible shot to lock it up, the Gators have relied on one another to find new ways to win.
In a game that saw Florida have some of its best and worst moments of the season, Burleigh put all the idiosyncrasies of the game behind and told her team one thing.
“I told them I was really, really excited to coach them in another game,” Burleigh said. “I just think that's been the theme of this season. It's a group like Havana kind of mentioned earlier, that they just love being together, you know?”
We know.
