McKenzie Barney and Tahnai Annis have been trading the goal-scoring lead all season for the fifth-ranked Florida Gators women’s soccer team, so it wasn’t surprising that they traded the goals Friday afternoon in a 3-0 victory over Mercer in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in front of a James G. Pressly Stadium crowd of 1,018.
Barney took the season lead by one, 14-13, by outscoring Annis, 2-1, in the opening game of the opening-round doubleheader. The Gators (19-2-2) advance to the second round to play Duke, a 2-1 winner over California in the second game of the day. Sunday’s 1 p.m. meeting at Pressly Stadium will be the second this season for the Gators and Blue Devils, who played to a 1-1 double-overtime tie at the Duke Nike Classic in Durham, N.C., on Sept. 17.
Florida’s opening goal in the match against Mercer (10-9-1) came 14:02 into the match. Sophomore Kathryn Williamson, the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year, served up the ball deep into Mercer territory. Barney timed her run perfectly, running up on the ball and blasting a shot from seven yards out past Mercer goalkeeper Cagney Valloch. It was the first collegiate assist for Williamson and Barney said it was one she will remember.
“It is an awesome feeling to start it off right (with UF’s first score),” Barney said. “It was Kat’s (Kathryn Williamson) first career assist, too, so she was pretty psyched about that. You can’t ask for a better ball. It lofted exactly the right way in a perfect place and just beat their defense. All I had to do was control it and put it in. It was a great ball.”
Annis made it 2-0 just 2:48 into the second half (47:48) off a feed from Lindsay Thompson. The play started with Erika Tymrak bringing the ball down to the top of the box and sending it left to Thompson, who was just inside the box. Thompson then tapped the ball over to Annis, who shot from 18 yards and scored her 13th goal of the season, temporarily tying Barney.
“It was a great buildup from beginning to end and normally I probably wouldn’t shoot that ball but it looked really good,” Annis said. “I knew if I probably took a touch that I would lose my angle or someone was going to step in for a hard tackle. I just took a deep breath and tried to stay composed when I struck it. It was one of those shots that felt right when I struck it.”
The Gators’ final goal started off a corner kick. Nicky Kit played a short ball to Tymrak who brought the ball toward the box and then sent a cross in. The ball deflected off a Mercer player but continued to travel toward the far post where Barney was waiting. Her four-yard shot hit the post but deflected in to give her 14 for the season, the most by a Gator since All-American Stephanie Freeman posted 17 in 2004.
Tymrak finished with two assists in a match for the third time this season and she credited Florida’s defensive play for the scoring opportunities.
“At halftime, one of the things that we talked about was hard team defense and when you defend well as a team, that leads to offense,” Tymrak said. “We put away two goals in the second half and I think it was because of our team defense.”
Senior goalkeeper Katie Fraine returned to the Gator starting lineup Friday after sitting out last Sunday’s SEC Tournament championship game against South Carolina with a groin injury. Fraine turned in two saves in extending her school-record for shutouts to 26. One of the saves came in the 54th minute when Mercer’s Emerald Phillips made a charge into the left side of the box. Fraine came out to close down the angle and made the stop on Phillips’ 12-yard shot.
“I think every round is different,” Florida coach Becky Burleigh said. “The first round you just try to get your jitters out. I know we just faced a one-and-done situation in the SEC, but it is still not the finality of the NCAA tournament. I think just having that first game under our belt helps a lot. I also think that the competition level steps up (in the next rounds). It’s just a matter of being on point in terms of offense and defense for us.”
Tickets for Sunday’s match are $7 for adults and $3 for children 12 and under, students and senior citizens. The first 200 Florida students showing a Gator 1 identification card will be admitted free.
No. 5 FLORIDA 3, MERCER 0
NCAA First Round / Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 / James G. Pressly Stadium / Gainesville, Fla.
Goals by period 1 2—Total
Mercer (10-9-1) 0 0—0
Florida (19-2-2) 1 2—3
UF: McKenzie Barney (13) (Kathryn Williamson) 14:02
UF: Tahnai Annis (13) (Lindsay Thompson, Erika Tymrak) 47:58
UF: McKenzie Barney (14) (Erika Tymrak) 72:16
Goalies Min G Svs
Cagney Valloch (M) 84:50 3 6
Cristina Guilarte (M) 5:10 0 0
Katie Fraine (F) 90:00 0 2
Statistics Mer UF
Shots 7 16
Shots on goal 2 9
Corner kicks 1 4
Fouls 13 12
Offsides 0 3
Yellow cards: Casey Barrett (M) 22:36; Vanessa Breslin (M) 66:44.
Officials: Dan Provenzano, referee; Jaime Guerra, assistant referee; Mark Bishop, assistant referee; Paul Fulks, alternate official; David Segura, scorer.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
(1) NORTH CAROLINA
At Chapel Hill, N.C. / Fetzer Field
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: (1) North Carolina 5, Jackson State 0
Match 2: James Madison 3, Texas 1
Sunday / Nov. 14
(1) North Carolina (18-2-2) vs. James Madison (15-6-1), 1 p.m.
(4) NOTRE DAME
At South Bend, Ind. / Alumni Stadium
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: Southern California 3, Illinois 1
Match 2: (4) Notre Dame 3, New Mexico 0
Sunday / Nov. 14
Southern California (13-5-3) vs. (4) Notre Dame (16-2-2), 1 p.m.
(3) OKLAHOMA STATE
At Stillwater, Okla. / Cowgirl Soccer Complex
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: Oregon State 5, Memphis 0
Match 2: (3) Oklahoma State 2, Michigan 1
Sunday / Nov. 14
Oregon State (16-3-1) vs. (3) Oklahoma State (18-3-2), 2 p.m.
(2) FLORIDA
At Gainesville, Fla. / James G. Pressly Stadium
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: (2) Florida 3, Mercer 0
Match 2: Duke 2, California 1
Sunday / Nov. 14
(2) Florida (19-2-2) vs. Duke (11-7-3), 1 p.m.
(2) VIRGINIA
At Charlottesville, Va. / Klockner Stadium
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: (2) Virginia 3, Lehigh 0
Match 2: South Carolina 2, UNC Greensboro 1
Sunday / Nov. 14
(2) Virginia (14-4-2) vs. South Carolina (15-5-4), 2 p.m.
(3) OHIO STATE
At Columbus, Ohio / Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: (3) Ohio State 1, St. Francis, Pa. 0 (2OT)
Match 2: Dayton 3, Virginia Tech 0
Sunday / Nov. 14
(3) Ohio State (15-4-1) vs. Dayton (19-3), 1 p.m.
(4) TEXAS A&M
At Minneapolis, Minn. / Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: (4) Texas A&M 1, North Dakota State 1 (Texas A&M wins on penalty kicks, 4-3)
Match 2: Minnesota 4, Creighton 2
Sunday / Nov. 14
Texas A&M (15-4-3) vs. Minnesota (12-5-3), 2 p.m.
(1) MARYLAND
At College Park, Md. / Ludwig Field
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: (1) Maryland 4, High Point 1
Match 2: Georgetown 5, Siena 1
Sunday / Nov. 14
(1)Maryland (18-2-2) vs. Georgetown (14-6-1), 1 p.m.
(1) PORTLAND
At Portland, Ore. / Merlo Field at Clive Charles Soccer Complex
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: Washington 4, Oklahoma 0
Match 2: (1) Portland 9, UT-San Antonio 0
Sunday / Nov. 14
Washington (12-8-1) vs. (1) Portland (19-1-1), 4 p.m.
(4) WAKE FOREST
At Irvine, Calif. / Anteater Stadium
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: (4) Wake Forest 1, San Diego 0
Match 2: UC Irvine 2, Arizona State 1
Sunday / Nov. 14
(4) Wake Forest (13-7-3) vs. UC Irvine (18-2-2), 5 p.m.
(3) WEST VIRGINIA
At Morgantown, W.Va. / Dick Diesk Soccer Stadium
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: Penn State 1, Penn 0
Match 2: (3) West Virginia 2, Morehead State 0
Sunday / Nov. 14
Penn State (11-8-1) vs. (3) West Virginia (17-4-1), 1 p.m.
(2) BOSTON COLLEGE
At Newton, Mass. / Newton Soccer Field
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: (2) Boston College 2, Boston University 1
Match 2: Hofstra 1, Connecticut 0
Sunday / Nov. 14
(2) Boston College (14-6-1) vs. Hofstra (19-2), 1 p.m.
(2) FLORIDA STATE
At Tallahassee, Fla. / Seminole Soccer Complex
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: (2) Florida State 3, Middle Tennessee State 0
Match 2: South Florida 3, Auburn 1
Sunday / Nov. 14
(2) Florida State (14-5-1) vs. South Florida (14-5-3), 1 p.m.
(3) MARQUETTE
At Milwaukee, Wis. / Valley Fields
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: Wisconsin 2, UW-Milwaukee 1
Match 2: (3) Marquette 1, Central Michigan 0
Sunday / Nov. 14
Wisconsin (11-4-4) vs. (3) Marquette (16-4-2), 2 p.m.
(4) UCF
At Los Angeles / Drake Stadium
Thursday / Nov. 11
Match 1: UCLA 0, Brigham Young 0 (UCLA wins on penalty kicks, 4-3)
Match 2: (4) UCF 2, Fresno State 1
Saturday / Nov. 13
UCLA (12-7-2) vs. (4) UCF (15-4-3), 10 p.m.
(1) STANFORD
At Stanford, Calif. / Laird Q. Cagan Stadium
Friday / Nov. 12
Match 1: Santa Clara 1, Long Beach State 0
Match 2: (1) Stanford 3, Sacramento State 0
Sunday / Nov. 14
Santa Clara (13-6-2) vs. (1) Stanford (19-0-2), 4 p.m.
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE CUP
At WakeMed Soccer Park / Cary, N.C.
Friday / Dec. 3 semifinals
Maryland quadrant winner vs. North Carolina quadrant winner, 4 or 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN2)
Stanford quadrant winner vs. Portland quadrant winner, 4 or 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN2)
Sunday / Dec. 5 championship
Semifinal winners, 12 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3.com)