ORANGE BEACH, Fla. – The two teams which registered upsets in Southeastern Conference semifinal action Friday – Florida and Arkansas - meet Sunday in the SEC Tournament final.
Both teams avenged regular-season losses in Friday's semifinal action to earn a spot in the 2016 tournament final. The Gators move ahead with a 1-0 win over No. 2 South Carolina. Arkansas advances to its first SEC Tournament final in 20 seasons after its 3-1 win over No. 11 Auburn.
Sunday's match at the Orange Beach Sportsplex begins at 4 p.m. ET and airs on ESPNU.
Gators & Razorbacks in SEC Tournament Play
Florida has advanced to the SEC Tournament each year of the program's history, winning 11 titles including the 2015 crown. This is the 17
th time in the program's 22 SEC Tournament appearances that Florida has advanced to the final match.
This will be the fifth SEC Tournament meeting between the two programs and the second time the two have met in the final. In Florida's second season in 1996, the Gators also faced Arkansas in the SEC Tournament final. That match, the longest in UF's 22-year history at 134:50, was won when then UF freshman
Sarah Yohe scored with 10 seconds remaining in the final overtime.
That was Florida's first of its league-high 11 SEC Tournament titles.
Here's how to follow the Gators
Can't be in Orange Beach for Sunday's match? Here's how to follow the action:
- Watch the match live on ESPNU beginning at 4 p.m. ET. Gator Great and past U.S. National Team member Heather Mitts and Jenn Hildreth will call the action.
- Follow the stream of the Florida-UA match on WatchESPN
- Hear Adam Schick and Matthew Stubbington's call of Sunday's match on FloridaGators.com
Regular-Season Meeting Between Florida and Arkansas:
When these two teams met in September in Fayetteville, Ark., the Gators lost 2-1 – the first loss in the 21-match all-time series. Lightning and heavy rains in the Fayetteville area caused an almost two-hour delay. When the match did start, Arkansas junior Jessi Hartzler scored twice in a three-minute span to take a 2-0 lead into halftime. Gator senior
Meggie Dougherty Howard cut the lead in half with her sliding shot off a
Gabby Seiler corner kick in the 50th minute. Despite outshooting the Razorbacks 15-3 in the second half, the Gators couldn't find the tying goal. The match was the ninth in the two team's all-time series decided by a single goal.
How Florida Advanced to SEC Tournament Final:
Florida advanced to the 2016 SEC Tournament final with a 1-0 win over No. 2 and previously unbeaten South Carolina. The goal started when
Mayra Pelayo's 14-yard shot kicked off the crossbar and traveled across the face of the goal.
Savannah Jordan headed it in at the far post in the 19th minute for her 14th goal of 2016.
The shutout was the eighth for Florida, with seven in the last 10 matches.
Kaylan Marckese is now tied No. 4 among Gators' goalkeepers for solo shutouts in a season at eight. It was the first time the 2016 Gamecocks were held scoreless in a match. Heading into Friday's match, USC had played only 34 minutes from behind.
About the UA Razorbacks:
Arkansas and Florida shared third in the final SEC regular-season standings with identical records of 8-3. The Razorbacks took the SEC Tournament's No. 3 seed based on their regular-season win over Florida.
Freshman Kayla McKeon and senior Lindsey Mayo lead Arkansas with nine goals each, while All-SEC first team senior selection Claire Kelley is the team's points leader (8 goals, 13 assists for 29 points). Senior goalkeeper Cameron Carter has played all but 45 minutes for UA this season and her 1.06 goals against average stands fourth in the SEC.
Colby Hale is in his fifth season as head of the UA program.
SEC Honors Gators:
Five Gators appear on the 2016 All-SEC teams, announced Oct. 30 by the league office. Three appear on the first team –
Savannah Jordan,
Meggie Dougherty Howard and
Gabby Seiler. Redshirt junior
Kristen Cardano earned a spot on the second team. Lester is part of the SEC All-Freshman Team.
The three Gators on the All-SEC first team have made multiple appearances on All-SEC teams. Dougherty Howard was a 2015 All-SEC second team selection. Seiler also was part of the All-SEC first team in 2014 when she was with Georgia. Jordan joins Gator Great
Abby Wambach as the only two in the program's history to appear on the All-SEC first team for four consecutive seasons.
Team Records:
Florida: 13-4-1, 8-3 SEC – SEC Tournament No. 4 seed
UA: 17-4, 8-3 SEC – SEC Tournament No. 3 seed
Rankings:
Florida is ranked No. 15 on the latest
National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll and Arkansas is No. 19.
