Florida survives upset bid by Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Florida women’s soccer team found out Friday night what the Gators’ football team has known for a long time: It’s tough to play Mississippi State in Starkville.

The No. 7 Gators played the Bulldogs to a 1-1 double-overtime tie Friday night in the first match of a two-match weekend trip to Mississippi. The deadlock left coach Becky Burleigh’s team at 8-3-1 overall and 2-0-1 in the SEC East heading into Sunday afternoon’s match in Oxford against Ole Miss. Mississippi State is 8-2-1 overall and 0-2-1 in the SEC West.

Additionally, the tie was Florida’s first non-winning result in 23 regular-season SEC matches – a streak that began Oct. 7, 2007 with a 1-0 victory in Gainesville against Kentucky.

The MSU soccer field has been inundated with recent rains, including more than 13 inches over the last week. Mississippi State had to postpone its Sunday match with Alabama until Tuesday (the Crimson Tide won, 1-0).

The Bulldogs jumped in front in the 19th minute when junior Kat Walsh, the Bulldogs leading scorer, nailed a 14-yard shot inside the far-post corner for her seventh goal of the season. It stayed that way when Florida goalie Fraine made a stop by Madison McKee with 19 minutes left in the first half.

Late in the second half, Florida’s Tricia Townsend was tripped on the left side of the MSU box. For the second Friday in a row, sophomore Lindsay Thompson took the penalty shot that eventually would send the match into overtime, beating MSU keeper Taryn Holland. Last Friday, it was Thompson’s goal off a penalty kick near the end of the first overtime that provided the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Kentucky.

In the two 10-minute overtime periods, Mississippi State outshot Florida 6-1, with four of the shots coming inside the box. Fraine stopped Walsh in the 93rd minute and later stopped McKee (96th minute) and Monica Alvarado (99th).

Florida’s match Sunday at Mississippi is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast over WRUF-AM (850).

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE

EASTERN DIVISION

SEC Pts. Div. ALL Pct.


South Carolina 3-0-0 9.0 2-0-0 11-0 1.00

Florida 2-0-1 7.0 2-0-0 8-3-1 .708

Georgia 2-1-0 6.0 1-0-0 9-1-1 .863

Vanderbilt 1-2-0 3.0 1-2-0 7-3-1 .682

Tennessee 1-2-0 3.0 0-1-0 5-5-1 .500

Kentucky 0-2-0 0.0 0-3-0 3-5-3 .409

WESTERN DIVISION

SEC Pts. Div. ALL Pct.


Louisiana State 3-0-0 9.0 1-0-0 7-2-2 .727

Auburn 2-1-0 6.0 2-1-0 5-3-3 .591

Mississippi 1-1-0 3.0 1-0-0 7-3-0 .700

Alabama 1-1-0 3.0 1-1-0 5-4-0 .556

Mississippi State 0-2-1 1.0 0-2-0 8-2-1 .773

Arkansas 0-3-0 0.0 0-1-0 6-3-2 .636

RESULTS

FRIDAY, OCT. 2

Florida 1, Mississippi State 1, 2OT

Georgia 1, Kentucky 0

South Carolina 1, Mississippi 0

Louisiana State 3, Alabama 0

Vanderbilt 1, Tennessee 0, OT

Auburn 2, Arkansas 1

SCHEDULE

SUNDAY, OCT. 4

Florida at Mississippi, 1 p.m.

Tennessee at Kentucky, 2 p.m. (CSS)

Louisiana State at Auburn, 2 p.m.

Arkansas at Alabama, 2 p.m. (FSN)

South Carolina at Mississippi State, 2 p.m.

Georgia at Vanderbilt, 3 p.m.

FRIDAY, OCT. 9

Alabama at Florida, 7 p.m.

Louisiana State at Kentucky, 7 p.m.

Auburn at South Carolina, 7 p.m.

Mississippi at Georgia, 7 p.m.

Mississippi State at Tennessee, 7 p.m.

Arkansas at Vanderbilt, 8 p.m.

SUNDAY, OCT. 11

Auburn at Florida, 1 p.m.

Mississippi State at Georgia, 1 p.m.

Arkansas at Kentucky, 1 p.m.

Mississippi at Tennessee, 2 p.m.

Louisiana State at Vanderbilt, 2 p.m.

Alabama at South Carolina, 3:30 p.m.

NSCAA/ADIDAS DIVISION I RANKINGS

Records through Sept. 29, 2009

Rank/School Record Pts Prv

1. North Carolina (22) 9-0-1 814 1

2. Stanford (11) 10-0-0 803 2

3. UCLA 8-1-1 744 3

4. Portland 9-1-0 729 4

5. Florida State 9-1-0 701 5

6. Boston College 9-1-0 619 6

7. Florida 8-3-0 594 10

8. South Carolina 10-0-0 550 12

9. Wake Forest 8-2-0 511 7

10. Notre Dame 7-3-0 510 14

11. Santa Clara 8-3-0 433 9

12. Purdue 6-2-2 401 15

13. Rutgers 8-1-2 372 17

14. California 6-2-0 338 8

15. Ohio State 8-1-1 326 21

16. Texas A&M 6-4-0 275 13

17. St. John’s 8-1-1 250 23

18. Virginia 6-2-2 233 11

19. Arizona State 7-1-2 189 RV

20. Michigan State 7-0-2 185 RV

21. UCF 6-3-1 139 22

22. Georgia 8-1-1 111 16

23. Louisiana State 6-2-2 108 NR

24. Maryland 8-2-0 91 18

25. San Diego 6-3-1 90 24

Others: Washington State (7-2-0) 85, Kansas (8-2-1) 79, Charlotte (8-2-0) 51, Brigham Young (8-2-1) 46, Connecticut (7-3-0) 42, Southern California (7-3-0) 40, Oklahoma State (7-4-0) 38, Indiana (8-3-0) 30, William & Mary (8-2-0) 28, Illinois (5-3-2) 23, Villanova (8-1-2) 22, Washington (6-2-1) 13, Oregon State (7-2-0) 11, Denver (7-3-1) 10, Virginia Tech (8-2-0) 10, Miami, Fla. (6-5-0) 8, Georgetown (7-2-2) 5, Oregon (7-1-1) 4, Loyola Marymount (7-3-1) 1.