Florida Soccer Defeats Colorado

Boxscore

Gainesville, Fla. - Sunday September 13, 2009

Three goals from three different Gators gave the No. 14 University of Florida soccer team (5-2, 0-0 SEC) a 3-1 win over No. 20 Colorado (4-3, 1-0 Big 12) Sunday afternoon at the James G. Pressly Stadium.

The threatening skies finally released a short rain shower with six minutes remaining in the opening half. The first Gator goal was scored just a couple of minutes later. Jazmyne Avant threw the ball in to freshman Holly King at the upper corner of the Colorado box. King turned to face the goal and her left-footed strike scored from 25 yards at the far post corner for her first collegiate goal.

“Jasmine threw the ball in and I turned with my left foot and then hit it to the left upper 90,” King said.

Florida scored quickly to start the second half. Brooke Thigpen found her roommate Erika Tymrak just inside the top of the box. Tymrak took the shot to the center of the goal. Colorado goalkeeper Kara Linder got her hands on the ball above her head but didn’t have a good grip on the damp ball. It came out of her hands and the ball bounced into the goal at 47:04

“I received the ball from Nicky Kit, who was left back, and I laid it off for Brooke Thigpen,” Tymrak said. “She played me a through ball back and I turned and shot. The goalie kind of bobbled it and it went in.”

Jessica Eicken started the Gators’ third goal when she headed the ball forward from the top of the Florida box. Lindsay Thompson ran onto the ball and then took advantage of her 1v1 opportunity to hit a 15-yard shot in the 54^th minute. It was her third goal of the season.

Keeping her composure in the box was on Thompson’s mind while the opportunity was evolving.

“It went off Jessica (Eicken)'s head and bounced over their last defender. Then it was just kind of a footrace. I got to the ball first, touched it just enough so the goalie couldn’t get to it and just shot it,” Thompson said. “I was trying to keep my composure and not kick it over or wide, because that would have been embarrassing.”

The Buffs scored in the 80^th minute when Kate Russell hit a 32-yard free kick. UF’s Kendall Graham, who had just entered the match in the 75^th minute, got her hand on the ball, but momentum carried it through to score in the middle of the goal.

One of the Buffs’ better opportunities came in the 67^th minute when CU’s Nikki Marshall ran onto the ball and moved full-speed toward the Gator goal. Caitlin Howard was with Marshall but Marshall was able to get just ahead to take a shot. UF’s Katie Fraine came off her line to make the stop at the top of the six-yard box. Fraine, who turned in a total of five saves Sunday, thought the team played hard on both ends of the field.

“I thought our defense came out hard and our offense got the scoring going. We had opportunities today that we didn’t have in the past,” Fraine said. “I thought we played well.”

After a pair of road losses last weekend at Indiana and versus then No. 9 UCLA, the tempo of the Gators’ play was a big emphasis in last week’s practice.

“I think that when we push the pace we are generally a better team; when we sit back and watch to see what happens we struggle a little bit,” UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. “So we talked about that the whole week, pushing the pace and dictating to other teams and not letting them dictate to us.

“I thought that the tempo of Fridays game was pretty high too (UF won 2-1 over Duke), but for a Sunday afternoon game this was a high tempo. Generally Sundays are a little tougher to play because you’ve just played an entire game before that but I’m happy with the way that they pushed it.”

The Gators continue home action next Friday when No. 4 Florida State (5-1, 0-0 ACC) comes to Pressly Stadium. Match time is set for 7 p.m. The first 1,000 fans at Friday’s match receive “Beat FSU” t-shirts, compliments of Gatorade. Check out the Gator Outlook for a list of all promotions for Friday’s match.

Streaming audio and video of Friday’s match is available at www.GatorZone.com – the official website of the Florida Gators. Click on the GatorVision link to get complete information about streaming video for Friday’s match. The match can also be heard on WRUF AM 850 with Adam Schick and Matthew Stubbington covering the action.