Gators Tie Tennessee

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No. 11 Florida Soccer Ties at Tennessee 2-2 2OT

Boxscore

The No. 11 University of Florida soccer team (10-4-2, 4-1-2 SEC) tied Tennessee (7-5-3, 3-2-2 SEC) 2-2 2OT Friday evening at the Regal Soccer Stadium. It was the seventh overtime match between these two teams in their last 13 meetings, with UT holding a 3-2-2 advantage in OT over that span.

Florida hadn’t found much success in Knoxville this decade, last winning a match at UT Oct. 15, 1999. UF leads the all-time series 10-7-2.

The Gators scored first when freshman Holly King headed in a corner kick from Angela Napolitano. The keeper got a hand on the ball but it was King who was able to get her head on it to put it away at the middle of the goal.  It was her second goal of the season.

Emphasis on corner kicks in Thursday’s practice paid off for King.

“The ball was in the air and I just headed it in from the center,” King said. “In practice on Thursday we did corners and I was doing really well finishing by heading the ball so I’m really glad that I got it done.”

A mis-clearance by the Gator backline led to the Lady Vols tying the match in the 35^th minute. Chelsea Hatcher caused the problems clearing the ball and she took advantage of the loose ball to hit a 14-yard shot to the far post corner.

The Lady Vols scored early in the second half off a corner kick. Senior Mick Imgram served up the corner kick and Florida headed it out to the top of the box. The ball landed at the feet of Julie Edwards who hit her first goal of the season in the 51st minute.

Florida got the tying goal in the 86th minute when sophomore Tahnai Annis put away the pass from Erika Tymrak at the far post corner. The tying goal came off a split second push to get her foot on the ball.

“We won it in the midfield and played a few combinations up to the 18. After I passed off the ball at the top of the 18, it went all the way to the other side. I just made sure I made my run backdoor in case the ball came across,” Annis said. “It came across and I really didn’t think I could get to it because it was so far out in front of me and the girl was pulling at me. I knew all I could do and all I needed to do really was throw my body at the ball so that’s what I did.”

Probably the best Gator chances in the overtime periods came as the seconds ticked down. UT’s Molly Baird was off her line with less than 15 seconds left in the first overtime, but the shot by Lindsay Thompson from 16-yards skimmed above the crossbar. With less than 10 seconds remaining in the second overtime, McKenzie Barney’s pass connected with Annis on the left side of the UT box. She had beat her defender, but Annis’ shot to the far post was stopped by a diving save from Baird.

UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh was unhappy with the first goal UF allowed, but liked the way the Gators continued to look for opportunities.

“I thought we dug ourselves in a hole by giving them the first goal but then it was a real scrappy comeback. But you can’t give a goal on the road – not if you expect to win,” Burleigh said. “I was proud of them for the comeback but a little disappointed by the way we let Tennessee have the opportunity to be in the game. To Tennessee’s credit, they worked really hard defensively. They put a lot of pressure on every 50-50 ball and came in hard for every ball. That gave us some problems.

“We had a great chance at the death there with a terrific save by the keeper to keep it a tie. We had another great opportunity in the first overtime period,” Burleigh continued. “I like the looks we had, but in the end the tie, given the circumstance (of giving up a goal), was not a bad result.

The replay of tonight’s match can be seen on SUN Sports (Gainesville/Ocala Cox Cable channel 48) on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. and Monday, Oct. 19 at noon.

The Gators travel to meet Georgia (12-2-1, 5-2 SEC) on Sunday, Oct. 18 at 3 p.m. (ET). The Bulldogs handed No. 5 South Carolina its first defeat of the season Friday evening in Athens, Ga., by a 2-1 score.

Sunday’s Florida-Georgia match will be broadcast on ESPNU (Gainesville/Ocala Cox Cable channel 251). The match can also be heard live with Mike Gillespie calling the action on AM 850 WRUF or via simulcast on Gainesville/Ocala Cox Cable channel 946 and www.GatorZone.com.