After 45 minutes of futility, one strike by McKenzie Barney with 15 seconds to spare turned everything around for the Gators.
On Friday, the junior midfielder buried a perfectly-placed cross from defender Jazmyne Avant in the 90th minute against No. 18 Texas A&M (1-2-0, 0-0 Big 12 Conference) to propel No. 8 Florida (3-0-0, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) to a dramatic 3-2 win in the First Tennessee Lady Vols Classic.
“We learned that we can win even when we don’t play our best,” UF coach Becky Burleigh said. “We have enough scrappiness in us to win a game like that, when we don’t play the way we want to play.”
Before Barney’s game-winner, the Gators seemed outgunned during much of the second half by the quick-hitting Aggies, who held a 21-12 advantage in shots taken.
Florida was able to make one last push in the final minute though, sparked by the speedy Avant, who made a deep run into the Aggies’ final third after beating her defender. On the outside of the box, the senior played a bending pass onto Barney’s foot from six yards out, which beat freshman goalkeeper Jordan Day for the third time.
“We wanted to win the game in regulation,” Burleigh said. “It just was just a matter of us stringing a few passes together, and once we did that, we were successful. We had several opportunities before the goal; it was just a matter of keeping possession.”
While Texas A&M owned the ball for most of the latter half with little consequence, the opening 45 minutes of play was eventful for both teams with two goals scored a piece.
Junior Erika Tymrak struck first for the Gators in the 25th minute off a give-and-go assist from freshman forward Havana Solaun. The goal was the first of the season for Tymrak, who finished Florida’s opening two games with two assists in the midfield.
After the Aggies took the lead with a pair of goals, senior Lindsay Thompson sent in a cross along the right side to sophomore forward Taylor Travis, who knotted the game up at 2-2 in the 39th minute with a header from 12 yards out.
“I think we were our own worst enemy at times,” Burleigh said. “A turnover led to their second goal, probably a careless foul led to their first one, although they played a good ball into the box. So from that standpoint, we just can’t give teams opportunities like that.”
Florida will close its two-game road trip to Knoxville, Tenn., on Sunday against No. 15 UCLA (2-0-0, 0-0 Pacific-12 Conference) at 1 p.m. The Bruins defeated tournament host Tennessee 2-1 on Friday night.
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
