Saturday night the Florida football team sent Gators fans into a panic. On Sunday afternoon the other football team nearly gave the rest of the Gators fans a heart attack.
No. 13 Florida (12-2-2, 6-1-1 Southeastern Conference) defeated No. 21 Georgia 2-1 in overtime., sending the crowd into a frenzy after watching the Gators overcome an early 1-0 deficit.
Sophomore Erika Tymrak was the hero, scoring both goals for the Gators — the equalizer coming with just nine minutes left in the match. Florida’s top playmaker created chance after chance late in the second half, but the Gators failed to find the net, frustrating those in attendance.
However, in the 82nd minute Tymrak wiggled 30 yards down the middle of the Bulldogs’ defense and drilled a shot underneath the outstretched arms of Georgia goalie Ashley Baker.
The goal was just the second Baker had allowed in SEC play, and it ended her streak of 561 scoreless minutes. Earlier in the match, Baker stopped two key one-on-one opportunities and was bailed out when a goal was taken away because of an error by the referee.
“I never thought it was going to be one of those days,” coach Becky Burleigh said. “I knew that we were going to get the equalizer. It reminded me of the U.S.’s World Cup game this summer. It was coming, it was just a matter of time.”
Tymrak scored the golden goal seven minutes into overtime with a rip 25 yards out, nailing the upper 90 of the back post.
“[Assistant coach Victor Campbell] told me to ‘just gamble and take a shot,’ and when I shot it I had a feeling it was going in,” Tymrak said.
While Tymrak’s heroics saved the game for Florida, defensive miscues plagued the Gators and nearly cost them an important conference victory.
Florida struggled with distribution and discipline in the first half. Georgia (9-3-4, 4-1-3 SEC) pressured UF’s defenders, taking six shots off Gators turnovers. In the 12th minute, the Bulldogs took the lead when Jazmyne Avant misplayed a ball deep in Florida territory, allowing Laura Eddy to sweep in and score the goal.
The Gators made several tackles to thwart Bulldogs opportunities following defensive lapses.
“Some of those problems have to be attributed to us coaches because we try to play out of every situation and we don’t want to just kick it,” Burleigh said. “Sometimes we take too much risk in our defensive third.”
The abundant amount of turnovers left fans and commentators so weary of another miscue goal that Matthew Stubbington, the Gators’ radio soccer commentator, joked, “You can soak up these errors like a sponge for so long until you start leaking water.”
