The No. 11 University of Florida soccer team and freshman Taylor Travis started their 2010 season in golden fashion. The Gators (1-0-0, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) beat the University of Miami 2-1 in double overtime at James G. Pressly Stadium in front of a crowd of 1,932.
Travis scored her first career goal in the orange and blue to give her team a win and she also had an assist on the Gators’ first goal. Sophomores Holly King and McKenzie Barney connected on passes to get the ball to Travis in the 107th minute. She scored the game winner from seven-yards to the far post and then found herself mobbed by her Gator teammates.
“I’m high as a kite right now,” Travis said. “It’s the best feeling in the world,” she said about scoring the goal, “I don’t think I’ve screamed so loud in my life.”
Travis is the second Gator to get her first golden goal as her first collegiate goal, the first being current junior Tahnai Annis in 2008.
“The goal was really well executed,” coach Becky Burleigh said. “It was great composure to finish that last goal.”
After a scoreless first half, the No. 11 Gators used a goal from Barney to get ahead on Miami (0-1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). Travis’s pass found the redshirt sophomore in the 49th minute. Barney scored while sliding toward the near post from within the keeper’s box and somehow managed to flick the ball toward the far post.
Four minutes later, in the 53rd minute, UM’s Blake Stockton pounced on a misplayed ball by the Gator backline, then evaded goalkeeper Katie Fraine’s tackle and scored an unassisted equalizer in a 1v1 opportunity.
“I would’ve liked to have a shutout,” Fraine said. “Overall, I was happy with the play of the whole team. It’s the first game, so you gotta get those first-game jitters out. Even though I’ve been here for five years, I got a couple of pre-game jitters as well.”
The rest of the second half was the two teams trading scoring opportunities. Both teams finished with double-digit shots and Florida, which had 18 shots, had eight on goal.
The first half featured a handful of shots on goal but no scoring conversions.
The Gators had half as many shots on goal as the Canes (six) in the first half, but had five corner kicks to UM’s two. Annis led UF with two shots on goal, but both were halted by goalkeeper Vikki Alonzo.
Miami’s Brittney Steinbruch, who entered the season two goals shy of the school record, had three shots in the first half, including a near chip shot from five yards out which Fraine punched out with a last-second leap.
With a roster numbering 38 players — the most of any UF squad — there were some first-game jitters and an ongoing adjustment period. Burleigh said her team was a bit nervous in the first half and lacked the aggression she feels her team needs to be inherent.
Burleigh attributed the missed chances on nervousness and her team’s inability to be aggressive from the start.
“We don’t need to weigh the game out,” Burleigh said. “We need to just be relentless and attack; let the other team get back on its heels.”
Next up, the Gators meet their first ranked opponent of the season. Florida travels to Orlando to face No. 25 UCF on Sunday, Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. Sunday’s match will air live on Fox Sports Net Florida (Gainesville/Ocala Cox cable channel 70 or 770) and can also be heard on WRUF AM 850.
By Eugenio Torrens, UF Communications
Scoring Summary: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 Final
Miami 0 1 0 0 1
Florida 1 2 0 1 2
Scoring:
UF – McKenzie Barney (Taylor Travis) 48:06
UM – Blake Stockton (unassisted) 52:36
UF – Travis (Holly King, Barney) 106:12