TALLAHASSEE, Florida – The University of Florida soccer team snapped a 38-match Florida State win streak in regulation play with its 2-1 victory at FSU Friday evening in front of a Seminole Soccer Complex crowd of 3,569.
Friday’s match was the nation’s only contest of the weekend featuring two top-10 teams. And it lived up to expectations, as both No. 8 Florida and No. 2 Florida State provided the play expected of teams with such lofty rankings.
Florida scored the first two goals of the match, with both involving sophomore Pamela Begić. She scored her first goal of the season at 24:12 with an eight-yard shot off the endline pass from Tessa Andjuar. Then within five minutes after entering the match, sophomore Betsy Middleton scored at 34:06 on a 20-yard blast set up by the pass from Begić.
The Seminoles cut the lead to a single goal when Dagny Brynjarsdottir headed in the ball from Carson Pickett at 43:08.
There were chances to tie the match in the second half. In the 77th minute, Brynjarsdottir shot was momentarily popped up and free in the box before junior Claire Falknor cleared it out of danger. Florida goalkeeper Taylor Burke had some key saves in the final minutes. Berglind Thorvaldsdottir’s shot with 10 minutes remaining in regulation was punched out by Burke at the post for a Seminole corner kick. With four minutes remaining, Marta Bakowska-Mathews short shot to the middle of the goal was stopped by Burke.
Gators Stars
- The first two goals of the match were the season’s first for both sophomore Gators. It was Begič’s fifth as a Gator. Middleton transferred to Florida this season after playing her freshman campaign at Miami (Fla.), where she scored one goal.
- Burke turned in a season-high five saves Friday.
- Andjuar provided the assist on the first goal Friday. It was her third assist of the last two matches, as she also provided the first two assists in Sunday’s 4-0 win at Oklahoma State.
2014 Records:
Florida: 4-1, 0-0 SEC
Florida State: 4-1, 0-0 ACC
The Series:
Florida leads the series 12-10.
This is the 20th year for both programs and the very first match for each school was against each other (Sept. 2, 1995 in Gainesville. UF won 4-0).
What They Said:
On tonight’s match:
“I felt like it was a terrific team effort tonight. I thought FSU played really, really well which was great for us because they gave us all we could handle. It will help us in the long run to play against quality teams such as this.
“I told our team the same thing said to them after the Oklahoma loss – one game does not define our season. Certainly we are really excited about the win and we are going to enjoy the win, but we have a lot of work to do based just on this game. When you are playing quality opponents such as this, it really points out what you need to work on and I think that will help us in the big picture.
“The atmosphere was awesome. The stadium was packed, the hills were packed, the band was here – it was a really great atmosphere. It was a good night for college soccer.
“This is a great rivalry because we really respect each other a lot. It is one of those rivalries you look forward to because it’s about playing some great soccer. I think both teams played some great soccer tonight. We were really excited to come out on the winning end of it.”- Florida coach Becky Burleigh
You had a goal and an assist tonight. What happened on each play?
“Tessa played a great ball in. Savannah [Jordan] got a little touch on it and I just placed it in.
[On UF’s second goal]
“It started on the left side with Lauren Silver. The ball somehow got to me and I played it to Betsy and she played it back to me. I played it back to her and she just scored. I got so excited – it was great.” – sophomore midfielder Pamela Begič
On tonight’s atmosphere:
“We talked about the match afterwards. It must have been fun to watch because there was a bunch of opportunities, great effort, fun setting – it was perfect.” – sophomore midfielder Pamela Begič
Worth Noting
With Begič’s goal at 24:12, it ended a Gators’ scoreless streak against the Seminoles at 226 minutes. Florida’sHolly King was the last to score a goal against the Seminoles in the 68th minute of a 3-2 UF loss in Tallahassee in 2011.
Florida State’s home unbeaten streak ended tonight. The Seminoles had a 36-0-1 consecutive home unbeaten record entering tonight’s match. FSU’s last loss in regulation was Oct. 13, 2011 versus Maryland (3-0). That was the ninth longest unbeaten streak in NCAA history.
FSU hadn’t lost a match in regulation (home or way) in its previous 38 matches. The last loss in regulation for the Seminoles was a 4-2 loss to Virginia in 2012 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinal play.
Tonight’s crowd of 3,569 is the second largest in Seminole Soccer Complex history. Of FSU’s top 10 crowds all time, four are versus the Gators.
This is the fifth time in the last six meetings between UF and FSU that both teams boasted a top-10 ranking.
Tonight’s result was Florida’s first win versus Florida State since 2010 (2-1 OT win in Tallahassee).
Preseason Conference Votes:
Florida shared the 2013 Southeastern Conference title with Texas A&M as each team posted 9-2 league records. FSU took second in the Atlantic Coast Conference with its 10-1-2 league record.
Florida – The Gators are picked to win the Southeastern Conference.
FSU – The Seminoles are picked to win the ACC.
Rankings:
Florida is ranked No. 8 and FSU is No. 2 on the second National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll.
Next up:
Florida travels west next weekend to continue play top 10 teams. The Gators meet No. 5 Stanford in Palo Alto, California, on Friday, Sept. 12. Match time is set for 10:30 p.m. ET at the Laird Q. Cagan Stadium. The match will air live on the Pac-12 Bay Area Network.
Then Florida heads to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to face New Mexico on Sunday, Sept. 14. Match time is set for 1 p.m. ET at the UNM Soccer Complex.