Florida Opens SEC Action with 3-2 Loss to Missouri

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida pushed until the very end but couldn’t find the equalizer in tonight’s Southeastern Conference opener. Missouri took a 3-2 win Friday evening in front of Donald R. Dizney Stadium soccer record crowd of 1,283.

Tonight’s Scoring:
The Tigers opened a 2-0 lead in the opening half. The Tigers first goal started with ball moving across the top of the box. Kylee Simmons sent the ball to Leah Selm at the middle. Selm touched it out to Jenna Bartels who scored from 16 yards.

Missouri’s next opportunity came when junior Madison Young was given a yellow card for a tackle inside the box on Simmons. She was successful on the penalty kick.

Then the Gators cut the lead at 22:43 after Tessa Barton was tackled just above the endline by Bella Carrillo. Redshirt sophomore Oakley Rasmussen was successful on the penalty kick for her second goal of the season.

An early second-half score pushed the Tigers ahead 3-1 in the 50th minute. From the midpoint, Grace Pettet launched a ball to just above the Florida box. Simmons ran it down and scored from 12 yards for her second goal of the match.

Florida nearly cut in to a one-goal match in the 70th minute when a sliding Amelia Malkin was just wide on the deep cross from Megan Hinnenkamp.

Then in the 74th minute, Hinnenkamp’s hard shot from the middle of the box was saved by Bella Hollenbach, the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Week.

Just a minute later, Hinnenkamp’s goal sliced the Tigers’ lead to one. From the middle of the field’s center Gatorhead, sophomore Lauren McCloskey sent the ball ahead. Hinnenkamp ran the ball down, put it past the approaching Hollenbach and then caught up to ball to score from 14 yards. It was her team-leading fourth goal of the season.

Freshman Lena Bailey looked to tie the match in the 86th minute with a hard shot in the box but Hollenbach made the stop.

In the final four seconds, Hinnenkamp drove through the box looking the equalizer, but Hollenbach made the save.

Coach Samantha Bohon Said:

“Honestly, I’m really annoyed with our start. I don’t know what it is about us and Missouri. But same thing happened last year. We got behind the eight ball and had to kind of claw our way back out. Same thing tonight. They did nothing different than what we anticipated in our game plan. So that’s the frustration is those all three of those goals were exactly how they’ve been scoring this year and in my opinion, they’re preventable from our end. So that’s really disappointing.

“I’m obviously pleased with how we kept fighting even though we were down two goals in the second half. We created incredible chances. Really a credit to that keeper because she was outstanding. But again, we just can’t expect to be able to have a frantic finish in the last 25 minutes.

“I was pleased with aside from the first 20 minutes of the first half and then maybe the first 10 of the second half. I actually thought we played a little bit better. And we created some really good chances. The girls kept fighting but that’s not enough. So we’ve got to be better for 90 minutes. And not 70.” – Florida Soccer Head Coach Samantha Bohon

25th Anniversary of Florida’s NCAA Title
Friday was Alumni Night. The Gators welcomed back two championship team celebrating milestone anniversaries – the 1998 NCAA and SEC champions plus the 2013 SEC champion teams. The 1998 NCAA champion team was celebrated by unveiling a permanent national championship banner on the Dizney Stadium scoreboard.

Records:
Florida: 4-2-2, 0-0-0 SEC
Missouri: 5-1-2, 0-0-0 SEC

Series Record:
Florida leads 8-7-2.

Next Up:
Florida continues SEC play next week. The Gators are at Tennessee on Thursday, Sept. 21 and returns home to play host to Kentucky on Sunday, Sept. 24. Tennessee opened league play tonight with a home 3-1 loss versus No. 11 Arkansas. Kentucky and Texas A&M tied 1-all in College Station, Texas.

Tennessee
Date: Thursday, Sept. 21 Time: 7 p.m. ET
Site: Regal Soccer Stadium<https://utsports.com/facilities/regal-soccer-stadium/16>
Admission: Free

Kentucky
Date: Sunday, Sept. 24
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Site: Donald R. Dizney Stadium<https://admin.floridagators.com/sportfile.aspx?filename=donald-r-dizney-stadium&file_date=4/4/2020>
Admission: Free
Promotion: Rowdy Reptile Day + Camper Reunion Day. Wear Orange and Orange Thunder Sticks for first 100 fans.

2023 Florida Soccer Schedule<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-soccer/schedule>

2023 Florida Soccer Promotions<https://floridagators.com/news/2023/8/10/florida-soccer-2023-home-promotions-schedule.aspx>

Missouri (4-1-2, 0-0 SEC) at Florida (4-1-2, 0-0-0 SEC)

Stadium: Donald R. Dizney Stadium (1,283)

Weather: 79 degrees, winds ENE at 8 mph

Goals by Period

Total

Missouri

Florida

Scoring Summary:

No.

Time