OXFORD, Miss. – The No. 7 Florida soccer team will need to have bad memories after last weekend’s nightmarish trip through the state of Mississippi.
After escaping Starkville and Mississippi State with a tie, coach Becky Burleigh’s Gators dropped a 3-2 decision in double overtime to Mississippi at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium Sunday afternoon. Florida fell to 8-4-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the SEC East in the loss to Ole Miss (8-3, 2-1 SEC West).
“To be honest, I thought when we went up 2-1, I thought we were going to win,” Burleigh said. “In the first half, we dictated play, but we became more passive in the second half. When we had the 2-1 lead, we were probably playing not to lose, instead of playing to win. We were letting them come to us instead of us stepping up and being aggressive. On defense, we were sagging a little bit. We just got away from what we were doing in the first half.”
After a scoreless first half, the two teams scored nearly identical goals within two minutes of each other. Mississippi’s Hannah Weatherly took advantage of a loose ball in the box and beat Florida keeper Katie Fraine with a 12-yard shot to the far post corner in the 61st minute.
Moments later, however, Florida sophomore Sarah Chapman fed the ball to Brooke Thigpen, who was making a run down the right side of the UM box. Thigpen took the ball and booted it past keeper Alley Ronaldi at 62:10. It was her fifth goal of the season and it tied the score at 1-1.
Florida’s second goal started when Tricia Townsend took a couple of touches to let the Gators begin their runs. When she served the ball, there were three Gators in the box and it was Tahnai Annis who got to the ball first. She headed it into the net at 77:26 for her third goal of the season and a 2-1 Florida lead.
But the Rebels tied the match 83:15 at when Kelsey Breathitt scored at the near post corner off an assist from Taylor Cunningham.
In the opening overtime period, Florida outshot Ole Miss 3-1 and had three corner kicks but could not score. The Rebels, however, got a free kick just above the center of the Florida box in the 102nd minute, and Abbie Curran scored the goal to give the Rebels only their second victory over the Gators in 15 matches.
Included in Fraine’s six saves Sunday was a diving stop on Curran’s eight-yard shot in the box in the 82nd minute. Ronaldi made two saves.
“The team needs to stay together, believe in what we are doing, control what we can control and go forward,” Burleigh said. “I think this team will be fine in the long run.”
Florida was without senior All-American Lauren Hyde, who sat out Sunday’s match with a respiratory illness. Starting center back Kathryn Williamson played just four minutes due to a sore right ankle.
The Gators return home to play host to Alabama Friday at 7 p.m.