Gator Country

Junior midfielder/forward Erika Tymrak has been named as the top player in the SEC according to TopDrawer Soccer. / Gator Country file photo by Rob Foldy

The No. 13 Florida soccer team (13-4, 6-2 SEC) finishes its regular-season travel schedule on Thursday at Arkansas (4-11, 2-6 SEC). Match time is set for 8 p.m. at Razorback Field.

This is a split weekend, with all league teams playing one home match and one away match. The Gators return home to play host to LSU on Sunday for Senior Day.

In the 2010 meeting between these two teams, the Gators took a 3-1 win in their final home match of the regular season. Holly King scored her only goal of 2010 off a first-half corner kick, but the Razorbacks tied the match nine minutes into the second half. Sarah Chapman scored the game-winner in the 63rd minute - also her only goal of the season. McKenzie Barney added an insurance goal five minutes later.

Last weekend, the Gators split in their two matches in the Magnolia State. The first double-goal match for freshmen Havana Solaun gave the Gators a 2-0 win at Mississippi on Friday. The first came when junior Jo Dragotta’s through ball found Solaun. She beat her defender and scored from 10 yards in the 34th minute. She added her second goal in the 77th minute when she one-touched in the deep cross from Jazmyne Avant. Solaun has been a productive point producer as of late, turning in at least a point in five of the last seven matches. Ten of her 16 points this season have come in that span.

A goal in the first minute of the match was all Mississippi State needed to upset the Gators 1-0 on Sunday. Elisabeth Sullivan scored just 37 seconds in and MSU withstood an onslaught of 13 shots on goal by the Gators to claim the Bulldogs’ second win over a top-25 team this month. The Bulldogs defeated then No. 20 Auburn 2-0 on Oct. 2 in Starkville, Miss.

The loss Sunday drops UF into a four-way tie for first in the Southeastern Conference race, with three matches remaining. UF shares the lead with Georgia, South Carolina and LSU, as all own 6-2 league records. Florida faces South Carolina and LSU in the final two matches of the regular season.

TopDrawer Soccer posted its list of the top 20 players in the Southeastern Conference last week. At the head of that list is Gator junior Erika Tymrak. She leads the Gators with 11 goals and 27 points. Both totals rank second in the league. Two other Gators appear on the list - junior All-American Kathryn Williamson (No. 6) and McKenzie Barney (No. 13).

Arkansas is 4-11 in 2011. The Razorbacks opened league play with a 2-0 record, but has lost its last seven, including a 3-0 loss at Auburn on Sunday. Thursday’s match is the first home event for the Razorbacks since they met Tennessee in Fayetteville on Oct. 2, and UA is 3-4 in home action. Senior Kailey Anders leads the Razorbacks with four goals and two assists for 10 points.

The match can also be heard on WRUF SportsRadio 850, by simulcast on Cox Channel 946 (Gainesville/Ocala) or on http://www.GatorZone.com with Adam Schick calling the action.

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