Time was ticking last Thursday, and it appeared another dominant Florida soccer performance would end in disappointment. But redshirt senior forward Lena Bailey had other plans.
Freshman center back Lael Hill delivered a dangerous cross into the attacking third, finding Bailey, who fired a 19-yard shot past Alabama goalkeeper Madi Munguia to secure Florida’s upset victory over the No. 5 Crimson Tide.
Bailey was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week for her late-game heroics, the conference announced Monday afternoon. The redshirt senior became the third Gator to receive conference weekly honors this season.
Following Florida’s upset victory over in-state rival then-No. 3 Florida State on Aug. 24, fellow forward senior Kyra Taylor earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors, while goalkeeper redshirt senior Jayden Emmanuel was named Defensive Player of the Week
Bailey was overcome with emotion after helping Florida secure its second victory over a top-five opponent this season.
“I feel like every single one of us was crying off the field and on the field,” Bailey said. “It’s just nice to be able to celebrate it together and celebrate each other’s successes because it’s a team goal.”
The moment carried additional significance for Bailey, who is one of just three players on Florida’s roster to have spent her entire collegiate career donning the orange and blue. The Tampa native has scored 10 goals in her Florida career, including three this season.
“It's very important that we take it game by game and just keep playing with our flow and get into flow state,” Bailey said.
Bailey’s late-game finish secured Florida’s second SEC victory of the season, leaving the Gators in 11th place in the conference standings with four matches remaining.
The path doesn’t get much easier for the Gators as they travel to Nashville to take on another top-five opponent, the No. 3 Vanderbilt (12-0-1). Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Contact Zach Moore at zmoore@alligator.org. Follow him on X @zach_moore27.
Zach is a junior sports journalism student in his third semester at The Alligator. He currently covers soccer for the Fall 2026 season after previously serving as the softball reporter. Zach also has experience as a play-by-play broadcaster in the Florida Collegiate Summer League for the Winter Garden Squeeze. In his free time, Zach enjoys going to the gym and watching sports, especially his favorite teams: the Minnesota Vikings, Arsenal FC, Houston Astros, Orlando Magic and Orlando City SC. A fun fact about Zach is that he is also an avid WWE fan.
