ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – It's another day at the beach for Florida soccer! Gators use a 4-3 penalty kicks advantage over Vanderbilt to move ahead to Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinal action.
The Gators and Vanderbilt tied 1-1 in double overtime Sunday at the Orange Beach Sportsplex, forcing penalty kicks to determine the advancing team. UF is now 3-3 in penalty kicks in its 27 SEC Tournament appearances.
Sunday's SEC Scores
Sunday's Scoring:
The 181 minute scoreless stretch between these two teams this season was broken up in the 72
nd minute when Vanderbilt's Madison Van Elwell hit a long strike to the upper slot.
But this is a meeting between Florida and Vanderbilt and that likely means overtime.
The goal in the 89
th minute assured this would be the third consecutive overtime between the two programs.
The tying goal started with
Kit Loferski's deep cross to the far post. Florida's
Madison Alexander and VU's Abi Brighton both went up for the ball. It was originally thought Alexander got the scoring touch but after review of video by the match's center official, it was ruled an own goal.
After two scoreless overtimes, penalty kicks decided the team moving onto SEC Tournament quarterfinal action. Both teams were successful in their first two penalty kicks but Vanderbilt's Abi Brighton opened the door with her high shot in the third position. Florida's next two shooters,
Cameron Hall and
Maddy Rhodes, both hit their shots to give UF a 4-3 advantage when VU's Amber Nguyen stepped up for the Commodores final shot. Her attempt was wide, signaling Florida's celebration.
2021 Records:
Florida (4-11-4, 3-6-1 SEC)
Vanderbilt (8-8-3, 5-4-1 SEC)
Series Records:
Florida leads 28-4-3
What the Gators Said:
On today's performance:
"The effort was unbelievable until the very end. We were down a goal with under two minutes to go. I was really proud of how we fought all the way to the end and found a way to get the ball in the back of the net after 88 minutes of working really hard.
"So we were able to get the goal and then there's 20 extra minutes to play. And we dug deep for that. And although we didn't come up with a goal, I thought we did a good job in that 20 minutes. In the penalty shootout we had people step up who were really confident and composed.
"Now we're advancing so we're excited about that." – Florida Head Coach
Tony Amato
"It was unreal. I think we knew since this could potentially be our last game that we just had a little fire underneath us. Honestly, when they scored on us, none of us gave up. It just fired us up to play even harder and we got the result." – graduate
Madison Alexander
On the team's calm approach to penalty kicks:
"Everyone that takes the PK volunteers themselves and so they have confidence going into it. And we believe in each and every one of them. We know that there's a chance there may be a miss and it's nothing against them. So we just support each other through it all." – graduate
Madison Alexander.
What was the message to the team before penalty kicks?
"Really, it was just take a deep breath. Pick your spot, hit it hard, and we'll live with the results. They did an excellent job."– Florida Head Coach
Tony Amato
Next Up:
The Gators will play the SEC Tournament's No. 2 seed, No. 12 Tennessee to open SEC Tournament quarterfinal action Tuesday, Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. ET. The match airs live on the SEC Network with Alex Perlman and former U.S. National Team member Jill Loyden calling the action. Florida lost 2-0 at Tennessee when the two teams met in regular-season action on Oct. 7.
Florida (4-11-4, 3-6-1 SEC) versus Vanderbilt (8-8-3, 5-4-1 SEC)
Stadium: Orange Beach Sportsplex
Weather: 69 degrees, NW winds at 5 mph, 53% humidity
| Goals |
1 |
2 |
OT |
OT2 |
Final |
| Florida |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Vanderbilt |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Scoring:
| 1. |
71:40 |
VU |
Madison Van Elwell |
|
| 2. |
88:26 |
UF |
Own goal |
|
Penalty kicks
| Vanderbilt |
Result |
Florida |
Result |
| Kate Devine |
X |
Madison Alexander |
X |
| Ella Shamburger |
X |
Julianne Leskauskas |
X |
| Abi Brighton |
0 |
Cameron Hall |
X |
| Alex Kerr |
X |
Maddy Rhodes |
X |
| Amber Nguyen |
0 |
|
|
| Final: Florida advances 4-3 on penalty kicks |
Shots: Florida 10, Vanderbilt 12
Saves: Florida 1 (
Alexa Goldberg 1), Vanderbilt 1 (Kate Devine 1)
Offsides: UF 6, VU 3
Cautions: none
