BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 12 Florida soccer team scored in each half Thursday night to knock off SEC Western Division leader Louisiana State, 2-0, at the LSU Soccer Complex.
The Gators (13-2-2 overall, 7-1-1 SEC East) remain in a tie with South Carolina (13-3-2, 7-1-1 SEC East) for the lead in the SEC, as the Gamecocks claimed a 3-1 win at Arkansas Thursday. LSU fell to 6-7-4 overall, 3-3-3 SEC West.
The Gators got on the board early in the opening half when freshman Taylor Travis’ right-footed strike from 35-yards scored in the upper left corner of the goal. The goal, easily the longest of the season for the Gators, was Taylor’s third goal of the season.
“The coaches are always telling me to ‘Take them on’. Jo (Dragotta) made the run out wide and took her defender with her. L.T. (Lindsay Thompson) showed away from the ball so she took her defender with her,” Travis said. “It was like the seas parted and I saw the shot so I took it.”
A pair of Gators combined for Florida’s second goal in less than a minute after entering the match. A ball sent out wide found Maggie Rodgers streaking down the right sideline. Rodgers centered the ball to sophomore Natalia Torosian just inside the box. Her strike from 10 yards scored in the upper slot at 70:26. It was her third goal of the season.
A couple of key saves in the opening half helped keep the Tigers from getting on the scoreboard. In the 27th minute, Ashlee Elliott cleared a Carlie Banks shot off the line at the near post corner in the 18th minute. Just under 10 minutes later, Fraine made a one-handed save when Courtney Alexander pounced on a Gator defensive turnover just above the box.
Fraine also needed to make a stop on another Alexander shot in the 59th minute. Alexander’s shot through the box hit the leg of a Gator defender and took an unexpected turn, but Fraine still had the read on the ball and was able to make the stop at the far post corner.
Florida coach Becky Burleigh knew it was going to be a challenging match and was pleased the Gators came away with a win.
“I thought it was a great win on the road, especially to get the shutout. These games get tighter and tighter as the race gets closer to the end. We knew this was going to be a tough one going in and it proved to be just that,” Burleigh said. “I thought in the first 10 minutes of the second half, LSU came out really hard. They did a good job of putting us under pressure, but our defense did a terrific job of weathering that. I think later in the half they sort of resorted to just hitting the ball long and I think our defense knew that was coming so it was a little bit easier for us to deal with. LSU is a good team. They were dangerous and had some good opportunities.”
Florida returns home to play host to its regular-season home finale on Sunday, Oct. 24 when Arkansas (5-9-3, 2-5-2 SEC) comes to town. Start time is set for 1:30 p.m. at the James G. Pressly Stadium.
No. 12 FLORIDA 2, LOUISIANA STATE 0
LSU Soccer Complex / Baton Rouge, La. / Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010
Scoring: 1 2—Total
Florida 1 1—2
Louisiana State 0 0—0
UF: Taylor Travis (unassisted) 3:56
UF: Natalia Torosian (Maggie Rodgers) 70:26
Goalkeepers Min Svs GA
Katie Fraine (F) 90:00 4 0
Megan Kinneman (LSU) 90:00 2 2
Statistics LSU UF
Goals 0 2
Shots 11 11
Shots on goal 5 5
Saves 3 5
Corner kicks 3 4
Fouls 3 12
Offside 1 3
Cautions: None
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS
EASTERN DIVISION SEC (Pts)/Overall
(12) Florida 7-1-1 (22)/13-2-2
(18) South Carolina 7-1-1 (22)/13-3-2
(25) Georgia 5-1-3 (18)/10-3-4
Tennessee 5-3-1 (16)/8-8-1
Vanderbilt 4-3-2 (14)/8-7-2
Kentucky 2-5-2 (8)/8-7-2
WESTERN DIVISION SEC/Overall
Louisiana State 3-3-3 (12)/6-7-4
Auburn 3-4-2 (11)/9-6-2
Alabama 3-4-2 (11)/8-6-2
Mississippi 2-4-3 (9)/6-8-4
Arkansas 2-5-2 (8)/5-9-3
Mississippi State 0-9-0 (0)/7-11-0
SCHEDULE
Thursday / Oct. 21
Florida 2, Louisiana State 0
Georgia 3, Alabama 0
South Carolina 3, Arkansas 1
Tennessee 1, Auburn 0, OT
Mississippi 2, Kentucky 1, OT
Vanderbilt 2, Mississippi State 0
Sunday / Oct. 24
Arkansas at Florida, 1:30 p.m.
Louisiana State at South Carolina, 1 p.m. (ESPNU)
Auburn at Georgia, 1 p.m. (FSN)
Alabama at Tennessee, 2 p.m. (CSS)
Mississippi State at Kentucky, 2:30 p.m.
Mississippi at Vanderbilt, 3 p.m.
Friday / Oct. 29
Florida at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Kentucky, 7 p.m. (FSN)
Georgia at Tennessee, 7 p.m.
Arkansas at Louisiana State, 8 p.m.
Mississippi at Mississippi State, 8 p.m.
Alabama at Auburn, 8 p.m.
SEC WOMEN’S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Orange Beach (Ala.) Sportsplex / Nov. 3-7, 2010
Wednesday / Nov. 3
Match 1: No. 7 seed vs. No. 2 seed, 1 p.m.
Match 2: No. 6 seed vs. No. 3 seed, 3:30 p.m.
Match 3: No. 8 seed vs. No. 1 seed (SEC Champion), 6 p.m.
Match 4: No. 5 seed vs. No. 4 seed, 8:30 p.m.
Friday / Nov. 5
Match 5: Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner, 6 p.m.
Match 6: Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday / Nov. 7
Match 7: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner, 3 p.m. (ESPNU) (Winner is SEC Tournament champion and NCAA Tournament automatic qualifier)
Current seedings (not including Thursday’s games): 1. South Carolina 6-1-1, 19 points, +17 goal differential in all conference games, 22 goals scored in all conference games; 2. Florida 6-1-1, 19 points, +15, 21; 3. Georgia 4-1-3, 15 points, +5, 8; 4. Tennessee 4-3-1, 13 points, +1, 11; 5. Louisiana State 3-2-3, 12 points, +4, 10; 6. Auburn 3-3-2, 11 points, 0, 12; 7. Alabama 3-3-2, 11 points, 0, 9; 8. Vanderbilt 3-3-2, 11 points, 0, 6. (Out of tournament) 9. Arkansas 2-4-2, 8 points, +2, 15; 10. Kentucky 2-4-2, 8 points, -6, 7; 11. Mississippi 1-4-3, 6 points, -9, 7; 12. Mississippi State 0-8-0, 0 points, -29, 4.
RANKINGS
For the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division I poll, click below:
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-soccer/division_i1.html
For the latest Soccer America poll, click below:
http://www.socceramerica.com/article/40019/soccer-america-womens-top-25.html
For the latest Top Drawer poll, click below:
http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer/college-soccer-tournament-ranking/women
For the latest Soccer Times poll, click below:
http://www.soccertimes.com/ncaa/top25/women.htm
For the latest 2010 RPI rankings, click below:
http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/weeklyrpi/2010WSOrpi1.html