GAINESVILLE, Fla. –A first-half goal from a Gator scoring her first goal of 2018 gives Florida a 1-0 win over Georgia on Thursday at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
The shutout moved senior
Kaylan Marckese into a three-way tie at the top of the Gators' career shutouts list.
Thursday's Match:
The only goal of the opening half came off the left foot of junior
Tess Sapone. Senior
Mayra Pelayo sent a square ball to catch Sapone just as she entered the top of the box. She took a touch with her right to evade a Bulldog defender and then used her left foot to score from the penalty spot.
Florida outshot the Bulldogs 12-4 and each goalkeeper recorded three saves.
Back Again:
- Last night in Frisco, Texas, sophomore Deanne Rose was with Canada as they faced the U.S. in the CONCACAF title match (U.S. 2-0 win). Today, she returned to join the Gators, turning in three shots. She scored a goal in the win over Cuba during the group play stage. Canada joins the U.S. and Jamaica as CONCACAF teams earning a spot in FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019.
Record Equaled:
With tonight's result, senior
Kaylan Marckese equals Florida's career shutouts record at 27. Thursday's result is her fourth shutout of 2018.
The record was set by
Katie Fraine (2007-10) and matched by
Taylor Burke (2011-14).
The Gators wore their pink kits Thursday to show support for all those touched by breast cancer for the 11th Annual Kickin' for the Cure match. Their wristbands signified a cancer that has touched their lives.
Colorful Gators:
Florida's field players wore their pink kits tonight for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
But cancer takes many forms. The Gators wore wristbands in different cancer support colors Thursday to recognize those in their lives affected by cancer.
What color are you wearing tonight on your wrist and why?
"I'm wearing lime, it's for lymphoma. My grandmother passed away from lymphoma when I was a little kid, and a friend of ours just got diagnosed with leukemia. A lot of us wore different wristbands, the team is wearing pink, so it was a really special night." – senior goalkeeper
Kaylan Marckese
Hear from the Gators:
On tonight's match…
"Good to be back in the win column, good to get an early goal, good to get a goal. I mean a lot of really positives. Good to get a shutout. Definitely a lot of positives from this one. – Florida coach
Becky Burleigh
On holding Georgia to four shots on goal…"That's an accomplishment because they have some great offensive players. I think our team did a pretty good job. They had two very good opportunities early and we came up big with that situation, both those situations. For us, we would like to eliminate even those chances. I think the second half was an even better example of our defense. It was really a pretty major shutdown at that point." – Florida coach
Becky Burleigh
On the win with only two regular season games left…"Every game is important at this point. There is no room for anything but urgency." – Florida coach
Becky Burleigh
On the team's attitude heading into the next two matches…
"It's very (somber) to know we have such a big senior class and they have such a big impact for our team. So before every game we are always talking about we need to do everything for the seniors, play like it's our last game. There's only two games guaranteed left now and we know that it means so much to the seniors. So it's important for us to go into every game like it's our last. - junior midfielder
Tess Sapone
On scoring early and how that impacted the game...
"Definitely getting that first goal in relatively early took that weight off our soldiers. But then it also made us think about keeping the pressure on them, not letting down or taking on their soccer style. So it was really important for us to keep playing Gator soccer, pass, receive, offer and keep going after them." - junior midfielder
Tess Sapone
You had a couple of big saves, can you talk about those?
"We wanted to make sure we were disciplined from the start. A lot of the SEC teams like to come and hit us early, so we're just really working on that and making a couple saves in the beginning comes with the territory. Once we get a goal, then we're flowing." – senior goalkeeper
Kaylan Marckese
You got an early lead tonight, turned out to be the only goal, can you talk about that changed the game?
"It's definitely a relief, not having scored the past four games. That goal was nice, it was a reliever. It was like 'Yes! We still know how to do this.' It kind of takes the pressure off the pressure of going late and trying to get a goal, so now we could relax and work on our discipline and defense." – senior goalkeeper
Kaylan Marckese
Once you got the goal the defense took over, did you see anything special on your end?
"They're just communicating really well and covering for each other. We have a pretty fast back line so we were able to challenge the girls and put pressure on them. Really just working well together as a back three and our midfielders joining in defensively as well, it's all coming together nicely." – senior goalkeeper
Kaylan Marckese
2018 Records:
Florida: 5-8-3, 3-3-2 SEC
Georgia: 4-8-4, 1-5-2 SEC
Series Record:
Florida leads 30-2-1.
Next Up:
Florida concludes SEC regular-season road play at Missouri. The Tigers lost 1-0 at No. 8 South Carolina tonight.
Georgia (4-8-4, 1-5-2 SEC) at Florida (5-8-3, 3-3-2 SEC)
Donald R. Dizney Stadium (679)
Weather: 78 degrees, winds NE 11 mph, 77% humidity
| Goals by Period |
1 |
2 |
Total |
| Georgia |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Florida |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Shots: UGA 5, UF 12
Saves:, UGA 3 (Emory Wegener 3), UF 3 (
Kaylan Marckese 3)
Cautions:
UGA-Abby Boyan/yellow (21:38)
