Forward Savannah Jordan went into Florida’s season opener wanting to put on a show, and she didn’t disappoint.
The freshman starter drove the ball up the field in the second half and scored her first goal of her collegiate career from eight yards out to break the 1-1 tie with Florida Gulf Coast.
Five minutes later, she found the back of the net again.
FGCU went to block a Florida kick, and Jordan took advantage, knocking the ball in. Jordan’s second goal provided the Gators a 3-1 victory over the Eagles at James G. Pressly Stadium on Friday night.
The win puts Florida at 4-0 all-time against FGCU.
After Jordan’s second-half performance, no one would have known that she came into the game nervous.
“She was really frustrated in the first half because she probably should have got a hat trick in the first 10 minutes,” coach Becky Burleigh said. “When we took her off at the half, she said, ‘I’m gonna finish some in the second half.’ I just told her, ‘Look, you’re getting into great position to score. It’s gonna come. Just be patient.’”
Burleigh’s advice came through – and Jordan’s relentlessness paid off – as she is the first freshman in program history to record two goals in a season opener since Aimee Wagstaff in UF’s debut match in 1995.
Once the first goal came, Jordan said it helped her to play better for the rest of the game.
“Once you start getting on the field and playing, it just gets out,” she said. “After the first goal, it definitely relaxed me a lot. I had a little celebration, and I’m not much of a celebrator.”
Jordan wasn’t the only starter who celebrated a goal.
All junior Havana Solaun needed was a touch on the ball. The midfielder got a cross from freshman forward Brooke Sharp 12 yards out, and she took the shot to the back post to score the first goal for Florida.
The Gators spent the majority of the first half controlling possession and forcing their way into the Eagles’ attacking third. It took seven before the Gators found the back of the net, but Solaun’s goal in the 35th minute gave the team some relief.
“I think we have a lot of faith in our system, in our coaches and in our teammates,” Solaun said. “When you know that it’s going to come, we won’t necessarily get frustrated. I think it showed there that we finish opportunities.”
However, FGCU evened up the score on a corner kick nine minutes later. Eagles defender Melissa Arnold sent the ball into the middle, finding midfielder Ally Kasun in the box. The Gators’ lapse in judgment on the attack allowed Kasun to head the ball right over Florida goalkeeper Nora Neset Gjoen for the goal.
“The thing that’s so disappointing about that is that we have spent so much time on set pieces and being a lot more organized, but we’ve got to attack the ball,” Burleigh said about the goal. “We can be as organized as we want, but if we don’t attack the ball then they’re going to have a free header like they did. I think it’s a lesson learned, and luckily a lesson that didn’t hurt us very much.”
Follow Michelle Provenzano on Twitter @mmprovenzano.
Freshman forward Savannah Jordan fights for possession of the ball during Florida's 3-1 win against Florida Gulf Coast on Aug. 23 night at James G. Pressly Stadium.
