GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida soccer came from behind twice Sunday to earn a 2-2 tie versus Central Florida Sunday evening at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
Weather extended Florida’s final home match of August. The teams left the field at 6:39 p.m. with 14:38 remaining in the opening half due to lightning in the area. After a 53-minute delay, play resumed at 7:32 p.m.
Sunday’s Scoring:
UCF’s opening goal started when the Knights won the ball near midfield. Emily Thompson sent the ball ahead for Chloe Netzel to run onto low in the Gator box. Netzel just beat her defender to put in a sharply angled shot to the far corner in the 17th minute.
A pair of first-year Gators connected to tie the match in the 43rd minute. Sophomore transfer Delaney Tellex looked up just inside midfield and saw freshman Vera Blom making a run down the middle of the field. Blom caught up the ball just inside the box, made a move to the left to avoid the UCF goalkeeper before scoring on a left-footed shot.
Netzel earned her second brace of the season with her goal in the 60th minute. Mia Asenjo sent a ball across the top of the box for Netzel. She headed down the left side for a deep shot to the far corner.
Florida tied the match in the 70th minute. Sophie White ran down a back pass to the UCF goalkeeper, catching up just above the box. A couple of touches brought White closer before sending a left-footed shot to the middle of the net.
Notables:
* There were a couple of Gator firsts on Florida’s opening goal. Vera Blom scored her first Gator goal off the first Gator assist by Delaney Tellex.
* Tonight’s goal was Sophie White’s second of her Gator career and first since scoring the middle goal in a 3-0 win at Stetson in 2022. White tore her anterior cruciate ligament just two matches later, sidelining her for the remainder of the 2022 season.
* This was the second tie in the all-time 23-match series. The other tie came in NCAA Second Round play in 2007, with UF advancing 4-3 on penalty kicks.
* Tonight’s crowd of 1,143 is No. 4 on Dizney Stadium Soccer crowds list.
What the Gators Said:
On this evening’s result:
“There’s so much we can take away from this. Look at the difference between a tie here and a tie on Thursday night. I was really proud of the way our team responded. We were not pleased with our Thursday performance in a lot of ways and so it was good to see our players come out and fight.
“Last year, we didn’t come back from being down at all the entire season. We had to do it twice against a talented UCF team as Tiffany and Tim Sahaydak and their staff do a really good job. It was an end-to-end fun battle, a really good college soccer game, contentious at times too, but I’m just really proud of the response. I think we’ll get better from this.” – Florida Head Coach Samantha Bohon
What she felt after scoring Florida’s second goal to tie the match:
“Just pure relief and joy. Just to be able to be back on that field and do it for my team, do for my coaches, and do it for God and everyone else. It was just pure joy.
“It’s always hard, but I have a whole team behind me, and they keep me calm and collected. Just taking deep breaths and helping me and communicating with one another.” – redshirt junior Sophie White
Records:
Florida: 1-0-2, 0-0-0 SEC
UCF: 1-0-2, 0-0-0 Big 12
Series Record:
UF leads 14-7-2
Next Up:
Florida starts a two-match road trip Thursday at Georgia State and then travels up the east coast to face Towson on Sunday. Georgia State is 0-1-1 this season and are coming off a 2-0 loss Thursday at Mississippi. Towson State is 1-2-1 this season. The Tigers lost 3-0 to George Washington Sunday night.
at Georgia State
Date: Thursday, Aug. 29 in Atlanta, Ga.
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Site: GSU Soccer Complex<https://georgiastatesports.com/news/2021/8/9/mens-soccer-new-soccer-complex-opens-for-games-this-week.aspx>
Video: ESPN +<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/7e776246-874a-479e-b005-96f82fe778b9>
Live Stats<https://statb.us/b/532171>
Admission: Free
at Towson
Date: Sunday, Sept. 1 in Towson, Md.
Time: Noon ET
Site: Tiger Field<https://towsontigers.com/sports/2020/6/22/tiger-stadium-lower-fields-complex.aspx>
Video: FloSports<https://go.flosports.tv/partner/caa?utm_campaign=caa&utm_medium=partner&utm_source=teams&utm_content=teams&rtid=towson&coverage_id=>
Live Stats<https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=534043>
Admission: Free
UCF (1-0-2, 0-0 Big 12 at Florida (1-0-2, SEC 0-0)
Stadium: Donald R. Dizney Stadium (1,143)
Weather: 85 degrees, winds NE at 8 mph
Goals by Period
1
2
Total
UCF
1
1
2
Florida
1
1
2
Scoring Summary:
No.
Time
Team
Goal Scorer
Assist
1.
16:15
UCF
Chloe Netzel
Emily Thompson
2.
42:21
UF
Vera Blom
Delaney Tellex
3.
59:06
UCF
Chloe Netzel
Mia Asenjo
4.
69:37
UF
Sophie White
Shots: UCF 11, Florida 17
Saves: Florida 5 (Alexa Goldberg 3, Jayden Emmanuel 1, TEAM 1), UCF 5 (Sami Lipcon 5)
Offsides: UCF 8, UF 3
Cautions: Daviana Vaka-UF/yellow (29:46), Daniella Chung-UCF/yellow (70:42), Madison Young-UF/yellow (78:59), Annika Huhta-UCF/yellow (80:14), Ella Holloran-UCF/yellow (86:24)
