Savannah Jordan rewrote history in her first weekend with the Gators.
The freshman forward entered the second game of her career on the heels of a two-goal performance in UF’s season opener against Florida Gulf Coast on Friday.
Jordan topped her debut by scoring three goals Sunday night to help lead Florida to a 3-1 victory against Oregon State at James G. Pressly Stadium.
"She’s just a natural goal scorer. It’s awesome," midfielder Annie Speese said. "I told her at halftime, ‘We’re going for that hat trick. You’re going to get a third one.’"
Jordan fulfilled the promise in the 84th minute when she sent a shot into the back of the net after receiving a pass from Speese.
She is the first freshman in program history to score five goals in the first two games of the season.
Jordan is also the first freshman to record a hat trick since Abby Wambach accomplished the feat during the sixth game of her freshman season in 1998.
Jordan opened the scoring in the 12th minute when outside back Claire Falknor crossed the ball to the right of the box. The freshman sent the ball into Oregon State’s right corner from 4 yards out, giving Florida a 1-0 lead early in the half.
The goal had a dual assist from Falknor and Speese.
Jordan used her physicality to notch her second goal, boosting the Gators’ lead to 2-0 by taking out three Beavers defenders in the box and quickly recovering to sink a goal from 3 yards out.
"I was just scrambling in the box and fighting for it," Jordan said.
"To be honest it wasn’t necessarily planned … but I knew I was right in front of the goal and I just wanted to hit and put it away."
The physicality continued in the second half as OSU received two yellow cards and defender Karina Gutsche took one yellow for UF.
Weathering the attack, Jordan found her way into Oregon State’s attacking third, attempting two more shots that resulted in saves by Beavers goalkeeper Audrey Bernier-Larose. A third shot sailed high over the cross bar.
Oregon State scored its only goal with rain coming down.
Beavers forward Chelsea Buckland scored a goal off a rebound from 10 yards out by juking goalkeeper Taylor Burke and kicking the ball into the middle of the net.
"In slippery conditions like this, we just got to not panic, focus on the ball and get it out of there," coach Becky Burleigh said.
"We need to do a better job of clearing the ball when it needs to be cleared."
The lesson did not cost the Gators thanks to Jordan’s performance.
Burleigh said there are still areas that need to improve — particularly on defense and in the attacking third, but she is confident in her budding freshman phenom.
"She’s a natural finisher; we knew that when we were recruiting her," Burleigh said.
"I’m fine with Savannah scoring as many goals as she wants."
Follow Michelle Provenzano on Twitter @mmprovenzano.
Savannah Jordan (right) dribbles past Oregon State’s Kathryn Baker on Aug. 25 at James G. Pressly Stadium. Jordan scored three times during the game.
