The Gators are in an unfamiliar situation because of familiar problems.
For the first time since 2005, No. 18 Florida (14-6, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) will not enter the SEC Tournament as the top seed after failing to clinch a share of the conference title Friday night when it fell behind early and lost to No. 22 South Carolina (15-5, 9-2 SEC) 2-1 at Pressly Stadium.
The Gators will enter the tournament in Orange Beach, Ala., on Wednesday as the No. 4 seed and will play fifth-seeded Georgia in the first round. Florida has made it to at least the second round each of the last five seasons, but lost to Auburn in the opening round in 2005 as the No. 3 seed.
The loss Friday encapsulated many of the Gators’ biggest struggles of late, including giving up early goals and the inability to subsequently play from behind.
“It’s just a broken record,” coach Becky Burleigh said.
The Gamecocks first struck in the third minute when senior Kortney Rhoades played the ball through the attacking third. Gators center back Kat Williamson was unable to corral it and South Carolina’s leading scorer, Kayla Grimsley, controlled it and put it past the left of a diving Taylor Burke from 9 yards out.
It was the fourth time in conference play that Florida gave up a goal in the first five minutes of the game, and the seventh SEC game in which it failed to score first.
“We just need to start better all-around,” Williamson said.
In the 22nd minute, the Gamecocks’ lead was extended to two when defender Christa Neary crossed the ball through the middle of the Gators’ box and midfielder Danielle Au placed a perfect header in the top-left corner of the net from 16 yards out, just over the outstretched arms of a leaping Burke.
“Until we figure out how to stop giving up soft goals, we will continue to chase games,” Burleigh said.
The Gators were able to cut the deficit in half in the 36th minute when senior forward Tahnai Annis headed in a cross from freshman center back Annie Bobbitt.
But Burleigh wants her team to find offensive cohesiveness earlier in games.
“It’s too little, too late sometimes,” Burleigh said. “We start out tentatively. We gave up the early goal, then we started getting all over them.”
After gaining the lead, South Carolina was able to play a bunker on defense, a defensive strategy that has given Florida trouble throughout conference play.
“They started collapsing toward the middle,” forward Erika Tymrak said. “We play a lot through the middle, so I don’t blame them. It’s a smart move, but we just have to play it down the width [of the field].”
Burleigh stressed that Florida’s struggles cannot continue into the postseason.
“Ultimately, we hold our destiny in our hands,” Burleigh said. “We’ve given up a lot of bad goals and when you give up bad goals in our sport you are going to lose some games.”
In the third minute Friday, Florida center back Kat Williamson misplayed a ball in the box that led to an another early goal in a 2-1 loss to South Carolina at home.
