With less than three minutes remaining and down 2-1, Florida needed a spark to leave Athens, Georgia, with a tie.
Enter redshirt sophomore defender Avery Upton. At minute 87, she fired to the bottom left of the goal off a pass from freshman midfielder Sophia Sindelar and scored to even the game.
After tying for the first time on Sunday against South Carolina, the Florida Gators soccer team had another ranked matchup ahead of them as they took on the No. 17 Georgia Bulldogs.
Florida (4-2-6, 0-2-3) drew against Georgia (8-3-2, 3-1-0) 2-2 on Thursday night as the Gators tied against a ranked SEC team for the second straight week.
It was a slow offensive start for Florida, but clutch defensive stops in the second half and an impressive five saves from redshirt sophomore goalie Paloma Peña kept the Gators in the match.
Bulldogs freshman forward Mya Townes earned the first shot of the match five minutes in, but Peña leaped up and blocked the attempt with one hand.
The Gators were quick to respond, as just 40 seconds later, redshirt freshman forward Addy Hess fired, but it was blocked and cleared by Georgia’s defense.
Hess and Townes traded shot attempts once again ten minutes later. Townes’s shot at the 15-minute mark was saved at the bottom right of the net by Peña, while Hess’s shot two minutes after was off target to the left of the goal.
However, a penalty from UF sophomore defender Abby Gemma at minute 23 gave Georgia a penalty kick and a chance to break the tie. UGA redshirt junior midfielder Summer Denigan took advantage, getting past Peña to the top left of the net to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
Florida had a chance to respond at the 38-minute mark, but the attempt from Sindelar was blocked by a wall of Bulldogs.
Despite a strong first half defensively, the costly penalty led to a one-goal advantage for Georgia at halftime.
The Gators came out of the break as the aggressors, earning the first two shots of the second half at minutes 48 and 49. However, redshirt junior midfielder Madison Jones was off the mark to the left of the net, and redshirt sophomore forward Megan Hinnenkamp fired to the waiting hands of Georgia freshman goalie Hannah Folliard, who finished with two saves.
However, the Bulldogs would extend their lead to two goals just two minutes later. Townes fired to the top center of the net off her right foot, making it a 2-0 match.
Florida wasn’t done just yet. At minute 55, Georgia junior defender Kiera Staude was called for a foul that gave the Gators a penalty kick chance of their own. UF freshman forward Kai Tsakiris drilled the shot to the bottom left of the net to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to one goal.
UF freshman forward Katie Johnston had an opportunity to tie the game, but her chance at the 63-minute mark missed wide left of the net. Denigan responded with her fourth shot of the night three minutes later, but her shot was blocked by the Gators’ backline defense.
Just when Florida needed a spark at the 87-minute mark, Upton’s goal evened the match. Neither team earned a shot for the rest of the game, as both sides left with a tie.
Florida will head back home to Donald R. Dizney Stadium for a match against the Kentucky Wildcats (8-0-3, 2-0-1) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Contact Adrian Carmona at acarmona@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @abcarmona04.
Adrian is a senior journalism major and the soccer reporter for Fall 2025. He enjoys playing Sporcle quizzes and ranting about South Florida sports.
