There was no letdown for the Gators when they took on the last place team in the Southeastern Conference on Friday.
Fueled by 16-3 shot advantage and a patient offense, No. 11 Florida (12-3, 5-1 SEC) outpaced Ole Miss (5-8, 1-5 SEC) 2-0 behind a pair of goals by freshman Havana Solaun.
“We would have liked probably liked to have scored more than that because we kept possession of the ball pretty much the entire game,” UF coach Becky Burleigh said.
Heading into the Oxford, Miss., matchup, the Gators had reason to worry about how they would react to playing their first road game since Sept. 25. Last weekend at home, Florida had to battle back from early deficits against both Auburn and Alabama.
But with the Gators' attack clicking – six shots in the opening 18 minutes – their back line combo of Kat Williamson and fellow defender Annie Bobbitt was able to pressure up to midfield and consistently keep the ball in Rebels’ territory.
“It’s definitely something that we’ve been focusing on all week in practice,” Burleigh said. “I thought we did well two weeks ago, and this past weekend, we sort of slipped back into letting the other team get chances.”
Ole Miss failed to register a shot in the first half on UF freshman goalie Taylor Burke. None of the Rebels’ three shots in the final 45 minutes were on goal.
Even with control over the run of play, Florida struggled to finish its many scoring chances throughout the match. Burleigh said the main culprit was a lack of aggressiveness in the box and the Gators’ failing to stay in their lanes when a service came in.
Solaun, a midfielder, was finally able to provide a breakthrough for UF in the 33rd minute after coming off the bench just 10 minutes earlier.
Following an Erika Tymrak corner kick, junior Jo Dragotta worked the ball from left to right and found Solaun inside the box. Using a quick cut, Solaun freed herself of a Rebels defender and drove home a shot from about 7 yards out to the far post.
“We wanted to play a lot of one-two touches and make it hard for the other team to be physical and tackle from behind,” Solaun said. “We just focused on the way they played and tried to beat them in the physical battle.”
After freshman Annie Speese scored a pair of goals last Sunday against the Crimson Tide, Solaun continued the youth movement for the Gators with a game-clinching score in the 76th minute.
Again, she found herself in free space following a deep run down the sideline by senior defender Jazmyne Avant. Fed by a chip pass near the goal line by Avant, Solaun tapped in an uncovered score from about 2 yards out.
“We’re really just trying to focus on settling down and playing simple,” Solaun said. “It’s definitely harder not playing on our home field but I think that once we relax things start happening for us.”
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
