With a firework show awaiting fans after the game, Tahnai Annis, Erika Tymrak and the rest of the Florida soccer team decided to go ahead and get the party started.
The No.6 Gators (9-1-1, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) thrashed the Mississippi State Bulldogs (7-5-0, 0-3 SEC) 7-1 Friday night behind an offensive onslaught led by Annis’ two goals and Tymrak’s one-goal, three-assist performance.
Home for the first time in five weeks, Florida hosted the second annual “Kicking for a Cure” match in support of National Breast Cancer Awareness month. The Gators, decked in pink tie-dye shirts during warm-ups, did plenty of good kicking, as 10 different players had either a goal or an assist.
“It’s great to be back home,” coach Becky Burleigh said. “It was a total team effort and great to see some of the younger players get more time. We could only play 22 people; it’s an SEC rule. We would have liked to play even more people.”
After the Bulldogs spoiled two early opportunities, the Gators finally broke through in the 10th minute with a pretty play involving four players.
Freshman Taylor Travis, who assisted on two goals on the night, dribbled the ball right at Mississippi State’s defense before laying it outside to Nicky Kit. The Florida fullback whipped a near post cross into the box where McKenzie Barney dummied the ball to Tymrak who blasted the shot past the Bulldogs keeper.
The goal opened up the initial floodgates as minutes later (13th minute) Barney scored her eighth goal of the season off a rebound from an Annis shot. Barney’s goal broke former Gators great Abby Wambach’s school record for goals in consecutive home matches. It was Barney’s eighth straight home game with a goal, and the sophomore captain said she’s honored even being mentioned with Wambach.
“A lot of people reminded me (of Wambach’s record),”Barney said. “I didn’t necessarily like the pressure too much but going out we just focused on having fun. Right away, I just forgot about it. We have to best fans and it is such an honor to put on a show (for the fans). I just love making them cheer.”
The crowd erupted again just one minute after the record-breaking goal (14th minute) when Annis put her name in the scorer’s sheet with a far post flick off a beautiful slip from Tymrak.
After a sloppy next ten minutes where the Gators failed to control the ball and play their usual style, the Bulldogs got on the board off a rebound from a penalty kick.
Following a questionable call by the head referee, Gators keeper Katie Fraine blocked the Bulldogs’ Elisabeth Sullivan’s penalty attempt( 23rd minute), but the rest of the Gators players just kept watching as Kim Pettit ran into the box and scored off the deflection.
After a halftime talk that stressed relentlessness, the Gators wasted little time scoring again, as freshman Caroline Triglia scored her first career goal in the 48th minute. Less than 60 seconds later (49th minute), Lindsay Thompson scored the first of her two goals on the evening.
In the 88th minute Annis capped off her solid performance with a blast past the keeper of a set piece from freshman Haley Reeb. Annis was very close to being offsides, but she stayed on just long enough to be one-on-one versus the goalie.
“I think our team really needed this because we’ve had a lot of trouble finishing these past few weekends,” Annis said.
