Florida Gators

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – Two second-half goals gave Florida a 2-1 win over Southern Mississippi in an exhibition match played Thursday afternoon at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.
 
Today was Tony Amato's first competition as the Gators' head coach. He was named Florida's head coach in May after leading Arizona for eight seasons.
 
Thursday's scoring:
The Golden Eagles scored first in the 33^rd minute when freshman Adaira Nakano's shot scored at the lower right corner.
 
The Gators scored twice in a bit over a 10 minute second-half span to tie and then score the go-ahead goal.
 
Junior Kouri Peace put in the ball from redshirt sophomore Nicole Vernis in the 67^th minute to tie the match. Peace was also involved in the play leading to the deciding goal. She played the ball into the box to Madison Alexander and Alexander was fouled on the play. A penalty kick was awarded in the 78^th minute and Alexander successfully put it in for what was deciding goal.
 


What Florida Coach Tony Amato Said:
What did you think of today's performance?
"It was good to play against someone else. With the quick turnaround, it was important that we play against someone else on a big field and get a picture of it. Now we know where we are at and the work we have to do.
 
"Overall, we were down a goal and the team fought back. They found a way to grind it out and get the win. It is hard to win college soccer games and the team found a way to do that today.
 
"We'll look at the video and get to work tomorrow on how we are going to get better and get ready for our first game of year."
 
"It was good to get our first win under the belt even though it was an exhibition. We'll keep get getting better."
 
Next Up:
The 2021 season opens next Thursday at No. 20 South Florida:

• Date: Aug. 19
• Time: 7 p.m. ET
• Site: Corbett Soccer Stadium
• Tickets: $10 adults / $7 kids (4-12) / $5 groups (10+ tickets)
• Streaming video: ESPN +

 
Then Florida opens home action on Sunday versus Texas:

•  Date: Aug. 22
• Time: Noon ET
• Site: Donald R. Dizney Stadium
• Streaming video: SEC Network +

 
Today's Boxscore:

Florida vs. Southern Mississippi
Stadium: Orange Beach Sportsplex
Goals by Period			1	2		Total
Florida			0	2		2
Southern Mississippi			1	0		1
Scoring Summary:
No.	Time	Team	Goal Scorer			Assist
1.	35	SM	Adaira Nakano
2.	67	UF	Kouri Peace			Nicole Vernis
3.	78	UF	Madison Alexander			PK