Although just three of the 30 players on the UF soccer team are seniors, they have had a huge impact all season.
The trio made its presence felt in a big way again on Senior Day on Sunday in the Gators' (11-2-1, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) 3-0 win against Mississippi State (5-10, 0-6 SEC).
Senior forward Megan Kerns scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season and the first of the match in the 24th minute, tapping in a ball that was sent in by fellow senior Ameera Abdullah.
"It was probably one of the best goals to score just because it was such a special day," Kerns said.
She added an assist on sophomore defender Nicky Kit's goal about eight minutes later.
"Being the underclassmen in all the years past, you don't really understand it as much as when you're a senior," Kerns said. "When you're a senior, you just feel all this excitement and all this rush, and you're just like, 'Wow, my career's almost done.' But we still have a lot of season left, so we have a lot to play for."
During the pregame senior recognition ceremony, Abdullah met with her family to walk to midfield as she was introduced and presented with her framed jersey.
She greeted her family with hugs, and her mom handed her a cell phone with her dad waiting on the other line.
"He couldn't make it because he's in Korea, but he just wanted to call and wish me good luck," Abdullah said. "He just said to have a really good game, and that he's proud of me and he wished he could be there."
It was tough for Abdullah to regain her focus after the extended pregame, but as much as it might have affected her play, she still managed to record the assist to Kerns.
"Personally, I played not that great, but I was happy that we got a goal pretty early and that Megan could finish it," Abdullah said.
The last senior, defender and midfielder Liz Ruberry, helped lead the Gators defense to their second straight shutout and held the Bulldogs to zero shots in the first half.
Mississippi State finished with just two shots for the entire game.
Junior midfielder Angela Napolitano put the game out of reach not long after halftime, placing the ball into the far right side of the net for an unassisted goal from about 20 yards out.
All three seniors subbed out with about 28 minutes left in the game, giving UF an opportunity to play a number of younger, inexperienced players and allowing the starters to get some rest.
The Gators fielded seven freshmen for about the last 20 minutes of the game.
UF coach Becky Burleigh knows how important her seniors have been to the program, especially with a much younger team this season.
"Right now all three of (the seniors) are making a big impact on the field, but that's just one part of their impact for us," Burleigh said. "They've all been terrific leaders. I think that's been a huge part of the success of our season so far."
