Lauren Smith was in perfect position for the Gators.
The sophomore midfielder helped Florida score early, controlling a cross from junior midfielder Havana Solaun in the sixth minute to take a shot from the center of the box for Florida’s first goal of the night.
But Smith set herself up in the center of the box again in the second half looking to make something happen.
Solaun smacked a shot on goal that hit the cross bar in the 56th minute. The junior conveniently recovered the ball at the top of the box and made the pass to Smith, who shot the ball in to the near corner of the net.
Smith’s first multi-goal match helped Florida (11-3-1, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) en route to a 3-0 victory against Kentucky (11-3-1, 5-2 SEC) at James G. Pressly Stadium on Friday night.
“It’s a great feeling,” Smith said. “I feel like the team did an awesome job of setting me up. I’m glad I got to execute when I needed to.”
The sophomore now has three goals this season.
Smith, however, wasn’t the only underclassman to take charge on the field.
Liz Slattery came on the field ready to cushion the Gators’ 1-0 lead over the Wildcats in the first half.
The freshman midfielder ran up the Wildcats’ attacking third with less than three minutes left in the half and slammed a ball from 21 yards out into the left corner of the net – making it the longest shot for a goal by a Gator this season.
“[Junior outside back Lauren Silver] was able to hold the ball and compose it for a while on the outside, and I just saw that opening,” Slattery said.
“She just played a really good ball through to me and I just took a touch. If the opportunity is going to present itself, then I’m going to take that shot.”
Both Smith and Slattery played in the defensive midfielder roles – roles that don’t normally put emphasis on scoring.
“It was really cool tonight because both of our twos scored – not just our attacking center mids or our strikers are scoring, everyone on the field is scoring,” Slattery said.
Florida defense was on target as well, helping limit Kentucky to only three shots the entire game and create scoring opportunities on its end.
“Our tactics of our outside backs getting forward really put a damper on their offense and we sort of got to dictate what we wanted to do at that point,” coach Becky Burleigh said.
Burleigh said it was a big win for the Gators going into facing SEC leader LSU on Sunday.
Smith added: “We need to do the same thing or more. We’re really going to get after LSU and [the win] is only going to pump us up for Sunday.”
Follow Michelle Provenzano on Twitter @mmprovenzano.
Florida junior midfielder Havana Solaun fakes out a Kentucky defender during the Gators' 3-0 win against the Wildcats on Oct. 18 2013 at James G. Pressly Stadium.
