Special to GC on the Florida Gators soccer team
GAINESVILLE, Florida - Opening half goals from three different Gators gave Florida a 3-2 win over defending NCAA champion Florida State Sunday afternoon in front of 3,253 at the James G. Pressly Stadium. Florida is the only team to defeat Florida State in the last two seasons. The Gators won 2-1 in Tallahassee on Sept. 5 for the 2014 NCAA champs only loss in its 24-1-1 record. The first two Gator shots Sunday were goals. Savannah Jordan<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2014&player_id=102> started the scoring in the 18th minute. Meggie Dougherty Howard's<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=104> pass found freshman Sarah Troccoli<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=118> just above the box. She took a couple of touches and sent a diagonal through ball right of the box. Jordan's right-footed angled shot scored at the far post. Gators scored again off a Christen Westphal<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=96> corner kick in the 21st minute. Troccoli headed in the ball to the far corner for her second collegiate goal in as many matches. The opening half's final goal started when freshman Melanie Monteagudo<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=115> was fouled as she moved end line through the box. Junior Pamela Begič<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=106http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=106> scored on the penalty kick to give UF a 3-0 halftime lead. All the second half scoring came from the Seminoles. Junior Kirsten Crowley's two-yard shot off a Megan Connolly corner kick put the Seminoles on the board in the 75th minute. Berglind Thorvaldsdottir moved through the left side after receiving the ball from Elin Jensen to score from 16 yards to cut the lead to one with 10 minutes remaining. Stars of the Match: Jordan now has five goals this season and today's score was her fourth in two matches. Jordan turned in her second collegiate hat-trick in Florida's 4-2 win at Miami Thursday evening. It is the 46th goal for the junior and moves her into a tie with Erika Tymrak<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2012&player_id=62> for No. 6 on the Gators Career Points chart (104 points off 46 goals and 12 assists). Troccoli, who was making her first collegiate start today, scored against the Seminoles and turned in her first Gator goal Thursday at Miami. Today's game-winning goal came off Begič's penalty kick. Begič also scored in last year's 2-1 win at Florida State off an eight-yard shot in the 25th minute. Worth Noting The Gators are now 13-10 all-time versus the Seminoles and 7-6 in Pressly Stadium. Florida's last win over FSU at Pressly was Sept. 9, 2007 (2-1 UF win). Florida is the only team to defeat Florida State in regulation play in the Seminoles' last 63 matches (2-1 at FSU Sept. 5, 2014 and 3-2 at UF Aug. 30, 2015). The last team other than the Gators to defeat FSU in regulation is Virginia (4-2 on Nov. 2, 2012 in Atlantic Coast Conference semifinal). The last time the Seminoles surrendered three goals was in a 4-3 home win over Boston College on Oct. 3, 2013. Florida is now 2-9-1 all-time versus a No. 1 team. The other win? Dec. 6, 1998 versus North Carolina in the NCAA College Cup title match. Today's win gives UF a 1-1-1 record versus the defending NCAA champion in Gainesville. Here's how the Gators have fared in home action facing the previous season's champion: Oct. 11, 1998 North Carolina L 2-1 OT Aug. 25, 2006 Portland T 1-1 2OT Aug. 30, 2015 Florida State W 3-2 Two Gators turned in firsts today: First assist: Troccoli First start: Gaby Rivera and Troccoli Today's draw of 3,253 is the ninth Pressly crowd of 3,000-plus fans for this match-up. The high for the UF-FSU match was 4,745 fans on Aug. 27, 1999. Records: Florida: 3-1-0, 0-0 SEC Florida State: 3-1-0, 0-0 ACC What the Gators Said: Each team got all their scoring in a half -Florida in the first and FSU in the second: "I really don't think it was a tale of two halves, I think it's just a case of where we did a great job of execution in the first half and scored some goals. They scored some on a couple of pieces that we still need to clean up a little bit that part of our game. But it was more us keeping the ball in the first half, having possession and making them chase. In the second, I think we were a little lax in that. We gave them some opportunities by just turning the ball over." - Florida head coach Becky Burleigh On her goal to open Florida's scoring: "I think our team started out really, really strong. Everybody was really pumped up for the game, and I think because it was FSU, everyone was really excited playing for a big home crowd. It was a great build-up, a great pass by Sarah (Troccoli), and honestly I just hit it across the goal and hoped it went in back post. It was a great ball into me." - junior forward Savannah Jordan Talk about your freshman and them stepping up in big situations again and again this season. "This is just a terrific experience for them. It's our first home game, it's a big crowd and it's FSU. Obviously, FSU has a terrific reputation and we knew it was going to be a battle. I didn't expect them to go quietly and they certainly didn't." - Florida head coach Becky Burleigh On her goal and first career start and assist: "It was really exciting. The assist came from a good switch from Meggie (Dougherty Howard), and I saw Sav (Savannah Jordan) making that run, so I just slipped it through and knew she could finish it. For the goal, it was such a good ball by Christen (Westphal). All I literally had to do was touch it, and it was going in." - freshman midfielder Sarah Troccoli On the freshmen's performances: "They had a lot of fight today, and they showed a lot of heart especially in the second half when we had two goals scored on us. We fought back, and I think they had a lot of intensity that they brought to us. Especially being a big game like this, I think they did an awesome job and I'm really proud of all of them." - junior forward Savannah Jordan On if the veteran players are helping her feel more comfortable with the game: "It's gotten a lot better. At the beginning, I was super nervous with everything that I'd do, but you just realize that they want you to do your best. You're like, okay, you shouldn't be worrying about this because they trust you, and the coaches trust you, so just play like you normally play." -freshman midfielder Sarah Troccoli This is your first win against them since 2007 here, how does it feel to get a win against them? "The home team doesn't often win this so kind of an anomie. Our team was really ready to play for one another today. The bench was unbelievable giving so much energy and information to the people on the field. They were really playing hard for one another. We had some really good team defense, when we do that I think we can come close to maximizing the potential of our team." - Florida head coach Becky Burleigh On getting Florida's first win against FSU at home since 2007: "Honestly, it was a group effort. We all just strived to do better than we did the last game, and we were really fired up for this game. It was our season opener at home, and we were just really excited to go at it." - junior midfielder Pamela Begić On scoring off a penalty kick: "When Savannah missed it (her penalty kick), she was like, 'Oh, I should've let you take it,' and I was like, 'Sure.' In my opinion, that's one of the easiest things to do in soccer. It's just you and the goalie, it's really close, so I just went for it." - junior midfielder Pamela Begić What kind of advantage do you think the change of formation (4-1-4-1) gave you against the Seminoles? "It just really a good matchup against them. We think they are really dangerous with their two holding mids. They control so much of the ball and we wanted to eliminate that. So it's just a way of matching up with them. It's not anything real genius, it's just a straight match up." - Florida head coach Becky Burleigh Preseason Conference Votes: Florida was second in the 2014 Southeastern Conference final standings with a 9-2 record. Texas A&M won the league title with a 9-1-1 record. FSU shared the 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference with North Carolina as both teams finished with 9-0-1 league records. Florida - The Gators are picked to win the 2015 Southeastern Conference title. Florida State- The Seminoles are picked to win the ACC. Rankings: Florida is ranked No. 14 on the August 25 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll<http://www.nscaa.com/rankings/4180/NCAADivisionI/women/Poll1> and Florida State is No. 1. Next up: Florida continues its home stand next Friday when it plays host to Oklahoma State. Match time is set for 7 p.m. at the James G. Pressly Stadium. Admission is free for all Gator soccer regular-season home matches. Here's some of the promotions planned for Florida's first home Friday match: * The first 150 fans Friday get a free Florida Soccer Cooling Towel! * Dads & Daughters Night * Sustainability Night The match is presented by WCA, supporting sustainability in our community. A complete list of promotions can be found at GatorZone.com<http://www.gatorzone.com/schedule/detail_promotions.php?d=2015-8-30>. Friday's match can be seen on the SEC Network +.<http://es.pn/1JtRrAW> Listen to Friday's match on ESPN Gainesville 850AM/95.3FM or via the GatorZone.com stream. No. 14 Florida (3-1-0, SEC 0-0-0) vs No. 1 Florida State (3-1-0, ACC 0-0-0) Stadium: James G. Pressly Stadium (3,253) Weather: 83 degrees, high humidity, sunny Goals by Period 1 2 Total Florida State 0 2 2 Florida 3 0 3 Scoring Summary: No. Time Team Goal Scorer Assist 1. 17:44 UF Savannah Jordan Sarah Troccoli, Meggie Dougherty Howard 2.. 20:15 UF Sarah Troccoli Christen Westphal 3. 41:57 UF Pamela Begić Penalty kick 4. 74:22 FSU Kirsten Crowley Megan Connolly 5. 79:58 FSU Berglind Thorvaldsdottir Elin Jensen, Carson Pickett