The seventh-ranked Florida soccer team shook off the after-effects of their overtime loss to Florida State Friday night with a second half explosion of four unanswered goals as they handed Eastern Kentucky a 5-1 loss at James G. Pressley Stadium Sunday afternoon in the final non-conference match of the regular season.
The win improved the Gators to 6-3 on the season. They will open Southeastern Conference play next Friday when Kentucky comes to town.
After a sluggish first half, Eastern Kentucky tied the game in the 52nd minute of play but that served as Florida’s wakeup call. The Gators spent the next 38 minutes totally dominating play.
“I thought it was a really poor start by us and we talked about it and talked about it,” Florida coach Becky Burleigh said. “But it is the responsibility of every person on this team not to let that happen.”
Once they overcame the slow start, the Gators used the whole field and their speed and athleticism to take control.
“When we effectively use our width, then we are very, very dangerous,” Burleigh said. “For the most part, I think our outside backs did a great job of that today.”
Freshman Natalia Torosian, who scored the Gators’ first goal of the game in the 38th minute, also broke the 1-1 tie on an unassisted 18-yard slam in the 67th minute. Normally Torosian plays about 20 minutes a game, but she was in an offensive groove Sunday and that kept her on the field for 41 minutes.
“I just wanted to show the team how much I cared about them and prove myself,” Torosian said. “I know we were off to a slow start, so my intention was just to lift everyone and try and set a tone.”
Her second goal was the catalyst for Florda’s offensive barrage. Although she was happy with her two goals personally, she was happier with the way she was able to help the team.
“I just really wanted to support my team,” she said. “I was really fortunate with the timing. I knew that when we got scored on, I had to step up again — one goal wasn’t good enough. I’m just happy I got to impact the team today.”
Another of Florida’s freshmen, Brooke Thigpen, agreed that Eastern Kentucky’s goal was the game-changer for the Gators. Thigpen also scored a pair of goals for the Gators, one in the 66th minute and one in the 86th minute.
It was more powerful, she said, than a halftime earful from the coaches. The coaches, she said, asked the team why they had gone backwards after a stellar performance against the Seminoles.
“After that goal,” she said, “we were like, ‘Wow, we need to step it up.’”
Now the team will turn its attention to the SEC schedule and Friday’s league opener with Kentucky.
“It’s like a brand new season,” Burleigh said. “Everybody is 0-0 again. I feel like we’ve had a lot of varied experiences leading up to this SEC play that’s gonna help prepare us.
“There are a lot more rivalry games. There is a lot more familiarity with teams, and there is a lot more on the line. It’s hard to win the SEC if you’re not winning games from this point on.”