The set piece is Florida's worst enemy.
After going into double overtime with South Carolina, a Gamecocks corner kick opportunity in the 108th minute sealed the Gators’ fate.
Midfielder Chelsea Drennan took the kick for the Gamecocks and sent the ball into a packed box. The ball narrowed in on defender Taylor Leach, who took a header for the goal.
The goal off the set piece gave No. 19 South Carolina (10-1-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) the 2-1 upset over No. 8 Florida (8-3-1, 2-2 SEC) at James G. Pressly Stadium on Friday night.
“[Leach] was dangerous on set pieces all game,” coach Becky Burleigh said. “She had a couple other good looks.”
One came in the second half, where Leach went for a header off the corner kick. The ball, however, was swooped into the hands of goalkeeper Taylor Burke for the save.
“We work a lot on set pieces and ultimately it comes to individual battles,” Burleigh said. “I’m not sure how much more we can work on set pieces.”
Freshman Savannah Jordan took the loss the hardest.
The forward scored the equalizer in the first half with 33 seconds left on the clock.
Junior midfielder Havana Solaun grabbed possession of the ball on the far flank. Solaun ran it up and crossed it into the box, where South Carolina goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo flew out to grab it – she missed.
Jordan recovered the ball quickly and sunk the ball into the net.
“It happened really fast,” Jordan said. “The ball deflected off the defender and I just hit it in. It was great because it kind of changed the game a little bit in momentum and gave us some confidence.”
Burleigh added: “The comeback goal right before the half was big. When we went into halftime tied it was a great situation for us.”
Then the second half came, where Jordan took two of the Gators’ four shots during the half.
One was blocked, and one went high.
“We just let the game get away from us a little bit, didn’t really play the way we like to play,” Burleigh said. “It was hard because they were putting good numbers behind the ball, so there wasn’t a lot of space behind them. Then we started going long, and we’re not real good at going long.”
Overtime came and Florida had two shots: one was blocked and one went high.
Double overtime began and after two minutes in, Jordan almost sealed a victory for Florida.
Jordan was in the box. Defenders weren’t near her. She took a shot to the goal and it went in – but the offsides call was made.
“It was close,” Jordan said teary-eyed. “Unfortunately it was offsides, so I guess I just got unlucky there.”
The loss is Florida’s second straight loss in SEC play, but Burleigh said the focus is on their matchup with Auburn (4-7-1, 0-4 SEC) on Sunday.
“We have an uphill battle but we’re certainly not out of it,” Burleigh said. “We’re just going to keep plugging away, and we’ve got to get three points on Sunday.”
Jordan added: “We have to get more organized on [set pieces]. But I’m confident in our team and I know we’ll bounce back.”
Follow Michelle Provenzano on Twitter @mmprovenzano.
Savannah Jordan battles for the ball during Florida’s 3-0 victory against Alabama on Sept. 20 at James G. Pressly Stadium.
