Mayra Pelayo squared up an Alabama defender on the right wing and darted toward the end line. She played a cross, trying to pick out one of multiple teammates in the box.
But Pelayo’s ball never made it to a fellow Gator. The Crimson Tide’s Kayla Mouton directed the cross away from the center of the box, but toward her own goal. The redirect snuck past goalkeeper Kat Stratton on her near post and Mouton covered her face in frustration.
The goal credited to Pelayo was UF’s second in as many minutes, as the Gators (8-2) bounced back from their midweek defeat, toppling the Crimson Tide 3-0 with a second-half surge on Sunday at UF's James G. Pressly Stadium.
“That’s a bit of backbreaker,” Gators coach Becky Burleigh said of the deflection. “That’s tough to give up a goal out of halftime, but to give up two that’s really tough.”
The first half may have been scoreless, but the Crimson Tide (8-3-1) controlled the opening passage of play.
Alabama kept the ball in UF’s third of the field for large stints, earning three corners to Florida’s zero. The Tide also outshot the Gators 5-3.
UF’s best chance in the first half came on a 25th-minute breakaway by Deanne Rose. As the freshman forward was being chased by two Tide defenders, surged into Alabama's box only to have her shot blocked by a sprawling Stratton.
Aside from Rose’s opportunity, Florida was silenced by the Crimson Tide’s first-half defense. The Gators’ only other shots came on two ambitious free kick attempts by captain Gabby Seiler.
However, Florida dominated the second half from the opening whistle.
“We stood off them too far, especially in the first 25 minutes. We let them kind of do what they wanted and they looked pretty good,” Burleigh said. “Then we put them under some pressure. Once we started putting that pressure on, all of a sudden that generated some of our offense.”
After winning its first corner of the match in the 50th minute, UF converted the set piece into the game's opening goal. Rose’s header on the Brianna Solis service was poorly dealt with by Stratton, getting past the keeper to give the Gators a 1-0 lead.
One minute later, Pelayo added another goal to help the team double its lead.
With the two-goal advantage, Florida was able to sit back on defense and look for opportunities to counter.
And in the 76th minute, Rose did exactly that when she scored her second goal of the game. The goal was the freshman's fifth in the last three games, and her performance was her second multi-goal game in the last three as well.
“I have a sigh of relief every time I score,” Rose said. “I know that it can happen, but it’s just the execution and finally it’s beginning to come through.”
With the match in hand, the UF defense marshaled the remainder of the match into a shutout for the fifth time this season.
“We needed a bounce back game for sure,” Burleigh said. “I think it showed some resilience on our team. And especially how we started the game, to get out of that mid-game. That was important.”
You can follow Mark Stine on Twitter @mstinejr, and contact him at mstine@alligator.org.
Deanne Rose chases a Syracuse player with possession of the ball during Florida's 2-1 win against the Orange on Aug. 27 at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
