Unlike Friday's 1-0 loss to Central Florida, the UF women's soccer team's Saturday morning meeting was filled with goals, the biggest of which was trying to figure out a way to capitalize on scoring opportunities.
"One of our main goals was not only to shoot the ball but to finish it," senior forward Megan Kerns said. "On Friday, we had a whole bunch of shots but we weren't able to finish them."
That's for sure. The Gators outshot the Knights 17-6.
"Definitely in the first 20, 25 minutes of the second half we had enough chances to win two or three games," UF coach Becky Burleigh said after the loss. "But the bottom line is you gotta put 'em in the back of the net."
UF faced similar difficulties last season, outshooting its opponents by double figures in each of its two conference losses.
The Gators outshot UCF 24-5 in last year's NCAA second round but needed to hold on in penalty kicks to win 0-0, 4-3.
"It's really frustrating, especially as a goalkeeper, because obviously we can't score," sophomore Katie Fraine said. "But at the same time, I feel like it's really hopeful to watch us have opportunity after opportunity."
After losing the home opener, it appeared as though the No. 22 Gators got the message when they delivered a 6-1 rout of Nebraska on Sunday. The six goals came on 14 shots.
"We created just as many good opportunities on Friday as we did (Sunday)," Burleigh said. "(Sunday), what the difference was we just finished them. There were some really great goals, and I think we just need to build on this."
Burleigh said it's important to get the first goal because that can create a snowball effect, which is what happened Sunday. Not being able to convert, however, gives the opponent hope to stay in the game.
Kerns, who scored two goals against the Cornhuskers, wasn't sure what the difference between the two matches was, but she did know one thing.
"The shots were just falling for us (Sunday)," she said.
Freshman midfielder Tahnai Annis, who added the second goal of her college career, noticed more aggressive play in the box.
"We came out with a vengeance not being able to score Friday, and just wanted to prove basically to ourselves and everyone else that it wasn't just a fluke that we can create chances," Annis said. "We can also finish them."
