GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida opened NCAA Soccer play with a 3-1 win over South Alabama Friday at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
 
With the win, No. 3 regional seed Florida advances to play the South Florida vs Florida Gulf Coast winner next Friday. The USF-FGCU match is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. in Tampa.
 
How the Goals Were Scored:
Quick passing led to Florida's opening goal in the 34^th minute. From the top of the box, the ball from Sarah Troccoli found Gabby Seiler making a run down the left side of the box. Seiler took a touch to bring the ball deeper, then sent the ball across the mouth of the goal where Madison Alexander touched it in from six yards.
 
Junior Melanie Monteagudo took on a pair of Jaguar defenders to score shortly before halftime. Just above the top corner of the box, Monteagudo drove left, then turned to head across the top of the box. Her right-footed 19-yard shot curled to catch the inside of the far post to kick in at 43:51.
 
With just under 10 minutes into the second half, Florida pushed the lead out to 3-0. Monteagudo beat her defenders to pass to Troccoli wide of the box. Troccoli's 12-yard one-touch shot scored at the far upper slot at 54:03.
 
Audrey Duren hit the Jaguars' goal in the 85^th minute when she intercepted a Gator back pass to score from eight yards.


 
Worth Noting:

• Florida advances after its opening NCAA match for the 17^th time in the program's 21 appearances.
• Alexander's goal was her third of the season and second of the last six matches.
• Monteagudo's goal was her first of the 2017 and the ninth in the last two seasons. She is the 13^th Gator to score in 2017, matching the highest number of UF scorers in a season since 2006 (also 13 in 2014, 2011 and 2006).
• With her goal, Monteagudo is the sixth Gator to score their first goal of a season in NCAA action. The last was Tessa Andujar in UF's 2-0 opening round win over Jacksonville. 
• Troccoli's goal was her fourth of the season – with all coming in the last six matches.
• Seiler's assist on Florida's first pushes her team lead to seven for 2017.
• Florida has scored three goals in six of its last 11 NCAA Opening Round matches, including three of the last four seasons.
• The Gator win halted South Alabama's seven-match win stretch, which included winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title last week with a three-match combined score of 11-0.
• Although the two universities are just less than 400 miles apart, this was the first meeting between Florida and South Alabama.
• South Alabama senior Rio Hardy shares No. 4 on the NCAA current career goal leader chart at 43. It is the second consecutive year Florida faced one of the current career leaders in NCAA Opening Round action, as then senior Tabby Tindell of FGCU was second with 66 goals in 2016.

 
What the Becky Burleigh Said:
On the team's defensive effort:
"Our team defending is what is under rated a little bit because it's not a backline and a goalkeeper that are defending – it's everyone. The central players that hold in the 2 (of a 4-2-3-1 formation) are a really big part of that because a lot of attacks are thwarted before they even become attacks because of them. Tess (Sapone), Bri (Solis) and Danielle (Van Liere) were all a part of that."– Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh
 
On what the team will work on next week to prepare for NCAA Second Round:
"I think the big focus for us this week will be us. It will be about what we do and how to refine some things." – Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh

Records:
Florida: 15-6, 7-3 SEC
USA: 14-5-1, 9-0-1 SBC

Rankings:
Florida ranks No. 16 on the United Soccer Coaches poll and is a No. 3 regional seed for the NCAA Championship.
 
South Alabama (14-5-1, 9-0-1 SBC) at NCAA Regional No. 3 seed Florida (15-6-0, 7-3 SEC)
Stadium: Donald R. Dizney Stadium (841)
Weather: 63 degrees, winds NE 8 mph, 70% humidity
 

Goals by Period	1	2		Total
South Alabama	0	1		1
Florida	2	1		3

 
Scoring Summary:

No.	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Description
1.	33:54	UF	Madison Alexander	Gabby Seiler, Sarah Troccoli	6yd shot to far corner
2.	43:51	UF	Melanie Monteagudo		Curling shot from 18yds
3.	54:03	UF	Sarah Troccoli	Melanie Monteagudo	12yd shot to far upper slot
4.	84:19	USA	Audrey Duren		8yd shot after intercepting back pass

 
Shots: South Alabama 4, Florida 11
Saves: South Alabama 2 (Justice Stanford 6), Florida 0 (Kaylan Marckese 0)