Five Florida programs earn first win
By Official Florida FC
The first Sunday of the women’s college soccer season saw nine of Florida’s 11 Division I programs in action.
North Florida had the day off, following Thursday’s win over Middle Tennessee. While in Jacksonville, Middle Tennessee was supposed to play Jacksonville University on Sunday morning, but that game was called off due to weather.
Gators earn first win
Samantha Bohan has won plenty of matches in Volusia County. Sunday, was the first time she did so as the head coach at the University of Florida.
The Gators beat Stetson 3-0 on Sunday evening in DeLand. Anna DeLeon’s 25th minute goal opened the scoring. Redshirt freshman Sophie White scored her first collegiate goal in the 49th minute. Alivia Gonzalez ensured the Hatters had no room for a comeback with her 77th minute goal.
“What I think was more important is that we set 10 standards we want to have this season,” Bohan said afterward. “I think when we go back and review film tonight and tomorrow, we’ll see that we checked a lot of the standards. So that really important for us to have progress, growth and success as we build this year. I was really proud of them today.”
When UCF beat the Gators 3-0 on Thursday, Bohan lamented her team not finishing in the final 15 minutes of the match. That was not the case on Sunday.
The Gators head to Austin next week to play Baylor (0-1-1) and Texas (1-0).
No. 1 Florida State sweeps aside Georgia
Florida State scored its first goals and earned its first win on Sunday afternoon with a 3-1 win over Georgia.
The Seminoles (1-0-1) scored twice in the first 15 minutes. Florida State pressed the Bulldogs and their intensity led to Onyi Echegini opening the scoring in the sixth minute. Jenna Nighswonger doubled the FSU advantage in the 26th minute.
At the back, FSU goalkeeper Cristina Roque is undefeated in 35 starts (28-0-7) for the Seminoles. She was only forced to make three saves Sunday.
Georgia goalkeeper Liz Beardsley, a sophomore from Lakeland, made her second collegiate start. She recorded six saves in the loss.
Knights hold on to earn draw in Baton Rouge
Caroline DeLisle showed why she was named the American Athletic Conference first team goalkeeper last season, with a stunning save to help UCF secure a point against LSU on Sunday.
DeLisle’s 84th minute denial of LSU forward Mollie Baker kept the Knights in the match.
“I believe we did a lot of things well especially in the attack. We possessed the ball and created a lot of chances that unfortunately we didn’t put away, but that’s something to think about going forward and somewhere we can grow,” UCF head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak said afterward. “Carol made an unbelievable save today. All of our game changers coming off the bench played great. We’ll keep our heads up and refocus for our next match”.
LSU started three Floridians on Sunday afternoon: Senior defender Maya Gordon (Fort Lauderdale) made her 43rd collegiate start in defense; Forward Taylor Dobles (Pembroke Pines) played her way into critical minutes in the Tigers’ 4-3-3 system and true freshman Raelyn Prince (Titusville) has started both matches in the midfield.
South Florida clips Florida Gulf Coast
USF kicked off its season with a 3-1 home win over Florida Gulf Coast (0-2).
Lucy Roberts scored a 26th minute penalty kick. Four minute later Rosalia Gonzalez doubled the lead. USF created more chances than the visitors for the first half and could have been out of sight.
The Bulls threw away the clean sheet in the 77th minute when their attempt to play out the back went wayward. Florida Gulf Coast’s Ashley Labbe pressured the Bulls into a turnover, picked up her head and found Louise Lillback for a goal.
USF freshman Maria Bulis scored her first collegiate goal in the 87th to put the game away.
Across the Sunshine State
Miami (1-0-1) beat Alabama 1-0 following Megan Morgan’s first half goal. …Mississippi State beat FIU 3-1 in Miami…FAU (1-1) beat Detroit Mercy 4-0 behind braces from both Bri Austin and Sofia Voldby.
