With 11 minutes remaining and the game tied 1-1, Oklahoma defender Riley Brown headed the ball to sophomore forward Lexi Dendis. Denis absorbed her pass and fired it to the back of the net for the late goal.
The Gators failed to respond with little time left in the match. Florida (4-0-5, 0-2 SEC) dropped its second consecutive conference match Thursday night with a 2-1 loss to the No. 24-Oklahoma Sooners (8-1-1, 1-1 SEC).
After starting the season 4-2, the Florida Gators soccer team has now dropped three straight matches and remains winless in conference play.
Consistent offense was hard to come by for the Gators, as they logged only six shot attempts, whereas the Sooners found 14. Despite a score in the second half, the inconsistency was ultimately Florida’s downfall.
Oklahoma earned the first shot of the game off a corner attempt at the 2-minute mark. Brown recovered the ball but fired over the crossbar.
At minute 18, the Sooners had another chance to open the scoring, but the shot from senior forward Hadley Murrell was saved at the bottom center of the net by UF goalkeeper Jayden Emmanuel, who finished with four saves. Murrell finished with five shots on goal.
The Gators earned their first chance at the 36-minute mark courtesy of redshirt junior forward Tatum O’Coyne. However, the try missed wide to the right of the net. Another opportunity arose four minutes later, but the shot from freshman forward Katie Johnston was also off target to the right.
Two more opportune looks came for Oklahoma at the 43 minute mark, but senior forward Luciana Setteducate missed to the left, and the attempt from junior forward Claire Curran was caught by Emmanuel.
Despite limited chances offensively, Florida’s defense overcame five corner attempts and 10 shots to keep the game scoreless into halftime.
However, it took just 22 seconds for the Sooners to strike first in the second half. Sophomore forward Kayla Keefer found sophomore midfielder Juliette Rayo in front of the net, who finished to make it a 1-0 match.
UF redshirt freshman forward Addy Hess earned the first chance for the Gators in the second half at minute 53, but her attempt missed to the top left of the net. Hess had another look just two minutes later, but she fired above the crossbar.
However, the Gators just needed one more chance to even the score. At the 63-minute mark, freshman forward Kai Tsakiris found sophomore defender Skye Barnes on a free kick. Barnes fired to the back right corner of the net to even the match at 1-1.
The Sooners had an opening to break the tie 10 minutes later, but junior midfielder Sophie Morrin fired to the waiting arms of Emmanuel.
UF freshman midfielder Sophia Sindelar responded with a shot just 30 seconds later, but it was recovered by OU senior goalie Caroline Duffy, who finished the match with one save.
At the 79-minute mark, Oklahoma broke the tie with the shot from Dendis. The Sooners’ defense stood firm, surrendering only one corner attempt to Florida for the remainder of the game, securing their first SEC victory.
Florida will return home to Donald R. Dizney Stadium on Sunday to take on the No. 15-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks (8-1-1, 2-0 SEC) 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.
