Florida Gators
Tennessee
No. 12 Gator Soccer Wins 2-1 on Soggy Evening at Tennessee
Saturday, October 10, 2015 | Soccer
Photos by Craig Bisacre – Tennessee Assistant Photographer
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – The University of Florida soccer team battled the weather and Tennessee Friday evening, coming out with 2-1 win in front of 1,595 drenched fans at the Regal Soccer Stadium.
| Friday's SEC Results |
| No. 12 Florida 2, Tennessee 1 |
| No. 20 Kentucky 0, Vanderbilt 0 2OT |
| No. 17 Texas A&M 4, Alabama 0 |
| Georgia 2, Mississippi State 0 |
| Mississippi 2, Arkansas 1 2OT |
| LSU 2, Missouri 1 |
| No. 10 South Carolina 2, No. 8 Auburn 0* |
| *played Thursday |
For the Gators to claim their second win (and second consecutive) of the last eight trips to Knoxville, the team had to wait out a weather delay. Lightning held up the start of the match by almost two hours. The teams returned to field to finish warm-up at 8:25 p.m. and the match started at 8:51.
Tennessee scored first when Mackenzie Gouner played a ball ahead for Meghan Flynn making a run through the middle of the field. Flynn's 12-yard shot scored at the upper far corner in the 22nd minute.
Florida got on the scoreboard when freshman Rachelle Smith made an evasive move to beat her defender, allowing her bring the ball deep into the box. Her cross to the far post deflected back to above the six-yard box where Brooke Sharp placed it in at 33:21.
A pair of juniors connected to send Florida into halftime with a 2-1 lead. Meggie Dougherty Howard received the ball just above the box from Lauren Smith. Dougherty Howard turned toward goal and sent a short pass to the left to Liz Slattery, who put in a low ball from 14 yards at 41:40.
Worth Noting:
· Sharp's goal tonight was her eighth of the season. That total doubles her previous collegiate season high of four goals turned in 2014.
· Slattery's goal tonight was her third of the season and the first off a foot, as she's headed in her other two scores. Her 2015 goals total equals her collegiate-best set last year.
· Coming into tonight's match, the Vols had only surrendered five goals. Friday's result was the second loss for the Vols, as UT shares the nation's high for ties at five with three other Division I programs - Cal Poly (5-4-5), Indiana (3-6-5) and Oakland (3-5-5).
· Florida is now 16-8-3 in the all-time meetings between the two programs and 4-5-1 in Knoxville, claiming a win in its last two visits to Regal Stadium. Florida last won in Knoxville on consecutive visits in 1997 and 1999.
Records:
Florida: 9-3-1, 3-2-1 SEC
Tennessee: 6-2-5, 2-2-2 SEC
What the Gators Said:
About today's match
“I think anyone who has sat through rain delays – and we've had multiple – it is hard because you get all amped up to play and then you have to wait. It is a mental thing and I thought we handled it pretty well.
“To score two against Tennessee is pretty good considering they've only given up five previously. Once they scored first, sure they thought they were in a pretty good situation since they give up so few goals. For us to come back was a tremendous response from our group.” – Florida head coach Becky Burleigh
Conference Standings:
Florida –Currently, UF is fifth in the SEC standings with a 3-2-1 league record.
Tennessee – The Vols are eighth in league standings with their 2-2-2 record.
Rankings:
Florida is ranked No. 12 on the October 6 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll.
Next up:
Florida returns home to play host to LSU on Sunday, Oct. 11. Match time is 1 p.m. at the James G. Pressly Stadium and admission is free for all Gator home soccer matches.
Sunday is Kicking for the Cure match and the Gators will wear pink to show their support for the fight against breast cancer. The first 500 at Pressly Stadium Sunday receive free pink Kicking for a Cure t-shirt.
The match will be streamed on SEC Network + and can be heard on GatorZone.com.
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| @UFGatorSoccer (Becky Burleigh) |
No. 12 Florida (9-3-1, 3-2-1 SEC) at Tennessee (6-2-5, 2-2-2 SEC)
Stadium: Regal Soccer Stadium (1,595)
Weather: 70 degrees, rain, 90% humidity, winds ENE 5mph
| Goals by Period | 1 | 2 | Total |
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| Florida | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
| Tennessee | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Scoring Summary:
| No. | Time | Team | Goal Scorer | Assist |
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| 1. | 21:23 | UT | Meghan Flynn | Mackenzie Gouner | |
| 2.. | 33:21 | UF | |||
| 3. | 41:40 | UF |
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Shots: Florida 19; Tennessee 12
Saves: Tennessee 8 (Julie Eckel 7); Florida 4 (Kaylan Marckese 4)
Yellow card: Christen Westphal/UF – 55:00; Tennessee bench – 84:02
