Special report on the Florida Gators soccer team:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida soccer claimed a 4-1 comeback win over Louisiana State Sunday afternoon at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
The Gators tied the match late in the opening half. Three unanswered second-half goals gave Florida the final margin.
Sunday’s Scoring:
LSU took advantage of their second scoring opportunity in the 23rd minute when Shannon Cooke sent a sharp pass to Lindsey Eaton just above the six-yard box. Eaton evaded her defender and scored from eight yards on a right-footed shot.
Senior Alyssa Howell gave the Gators a lift with her score shortly before halftime. Carina Baltrip-Reyes brought the ball through the Tiger half. Nearing the LSU defensive third, Baltrip-Reyes sent the ball ahead to Cassidy Lindley at the top center of the box. She immediately sent the ball into space down the center of the goal. Howell ran the ball down and just beat the on-coming LSU goalkeeper to score at 42:33.
Florida took the lead for good early in the second half. The play started when Lindley sent the ball out wide to Mayra Pelayo. She bought the ball to above the corner of the box and played it into space for Briana Solis making an angled run through the box. Solis took a touch toward end line and her centering pass was touched in to the upper netting by the right foot of Lais Araujo from four yards in the 50th minute.
The Gators’ third goal came in the 61st minute. It started with some passing back and forth between Solis and Araujo as Solis moved toward goal. From the top of the box, Araujo’s angled ball found Madison Alexander making a run. Alexander’s one-touch from six yards scored at the far post.
The final goal came off an Araujo corner kick. Courtney Douglas leaped and headed in her first collegiate goal from six yards in the 84th minute.
Quick Hits:
· Since the start of Southeastern Conference play, Araujo has scored five goals in three matches – one vs. Vanderbilt and LSU, three at Kentucky.
· It was a double first for Douglas. Her first collegiate goal came on her first collegiate shot.
· Howell first collegiate goal came Thursday in Lexington with less than a minute remaining in the opening half. Today, she scored again – this time in the 43rd minute.
· Alexander’s goal Sunday is her fourth of 2018, setting her collegiate season high goals total.
· Baltrip-Reyes’ assist on Howell’s goal gives her the first collegiate point of her career. Baltrip-Reyes played at Florida International for the 2016 season and sat out the 2017 campaign with a knee injury. She transferred to Florida in the spring of 2018.
· The four goals was the most surrendered by the Tigers this season. The previous high came in a 3-0 loss at then No. 4 Texas A&M to open SEC play.
Hear from the Gators:
On what has clicked in the last couple of games for the team…
“I really think a big part of it is just our continued persistence at practice. The schedule we that we played in non-conference season was really really difficult. I think that helped us prepare for SEC play. More than anything, I would give it to our players again for staying positive during the adversity we faced.” – Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh.
On Laís Araujo’s performance the last few games…
“Laís is a really creative player. She sees the game in a very different way than most players.
“When she asserts herself on a game, she really can make a difference and I think she’s really doing that.” – Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh.
On Florida’s defensive effort the last few games…
“Those three that play in the back (Carina Baltrip-Reyes, Georgia Eaton-Collins, Julia Lester), along with Kaylan Marckese, that’s a tough combination to beat. They are playing 90 minutes a game, they are the iron women of our team. You have to give it up for the work ethic they are putting forth every single day.” – Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh.
On her first ever goal…
“Amazing. I’m extremely happy. Lais played a really great ball across, and I just had to put a body on it. And when I got it I was so excited and then my hair got out. But oh well, it’s a goal.” – redshirt senior Courtney Douglas
On Florida’s defensive performance…
“It’s really exciting. I’m really proud of our defense. We’ve been working really hard day in and day out.”- redshirt senior Courtney Douglas
On her stellar performance in the last few games…
“I don’t know. I’ve been working a lot. The team is all working hard, everyone is working hard to turn this game around, just in general. We’ve had some adversity the past games, but we’re trying to fight back and especially fight for other things bigger than soccer. Today was a really good example. We’ve been fighting a lot together with Lo [Lauren Evans] and it was just a great moment for us to step up and give her this gift and she feels really great about it, so it’s really good.” – senior midfielder Lais Araujo
On the momentum heading deeper into SEC play…
“We try to focus on that. We saw the conference games as an opportunity to get better and to start a new phase. We had those games against the different teams and different conferences, it was good for us. It made us stronger. We wanted to get better. Unfortunately, we didn’t get good points and good goals.
“But now it’s starting to come, and everyone was believing that it was going to come. So this is the most important part. It’s such a good time. Again we are fighting for something bigger than ourselves.” – senior midfielder Lais Araujo
2018 Records:
Florida: 4-6-1, 2-1 SEC
LSU: 6-4-1, 0-2-1 SEC
Series Record:
Florida leads 18-1-2
Next Up:
Florida has one match next weekend and it is at Mississippi State.
· 8 p.m. ET – MSU Soccer Field
· Audio available on ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.wruf.com_listen-2Dlive_&d=DwIFAw&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=6MG06PG_fwpe7ULfewi6NrFR2j_4ngNZtgGHhDCeRY0&m=5lomLQO1rC5RgNKFo9aWqL4EBlRzbAHG1_HYmayovFs&s=4TSvebIBKfLqWVc83LvzfV7dfYJEryfOB19roccflCQ&e=>
LSU (6-4-1, 0-2-1 SEC) at Florida (4-6-1, 2-1 SEC)
Donald R. Dizney Stadium (371)
Weather: 89 degrees, winds E 7 mph, 56% humidity
Goals by Period
1
2
Total
LSU
1
0
1
Florida
1
3
4
Scoring Summary:
No.
Time
Team
Goal Scorer
Assist
Description
1.
22:15
LSU
Lindsey Eaton
Shannon Cooke
8yd shot
2.
42:33
UF
Alyssa Howell
Cassidy Lindley, Carina Baltrip-Reyes
6yd shot from center
3.
49:21
UF
Laís Araujo
Briana Solis, Mayra Pelayo
6yds past keeper
4.
60:42
UF
Madison Alexander
Laís Araujo, Briana Solis
4yd shot at far post
5.
83:44
UF
Courtney Douglas
Laís Araujo
Header just inside post
6.
Shots: LSU 7, UF 18
Saves: LSU 4 (Caroline Brockmeier 3, Team 1), UF 3 (Kaylan Marckese 3)