Savannah Jordan made a bold move against Arkansas’ goalkeeper Cameron Carter.
Junior midfielder Havana Solaun shot a ball into the air, and as it was closing in on the box, Jordan saw Carter coming out of the goal to make a save.
Jordan followed the ball, leaped forward and headed it into the back of the net while colliding into Carter to give the Gators their only goal of the night.
The freshman forward was Florida’s deciding factor in a tough 1-0 victory against Arkansas in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Ala., on Wednesday night.
“That’s a brave goal,” coach Becky Burleigh said. “But she’s been doing that all year. She displays all her courage, knowing that she’s going to take a hit and scoring anyway.
“That’s one of the things that makes her a great goal scorer.”
Despite Jordan’s relentlessness on Florida’s attack, the win did not come easy.
The Gators struggled on the attack for the rest of the game, taking 17 shots with Jordan’s 24th-minute attempt being the only one to find the back of the net.
The Razorbacks increased their pressure and changed up their formation in an attempt to muster up an offense, putting forward Jeriann Okoro on the high line with forward Ashleigh Ellenwood.
The change put pressure on Florida’s defense — Arkansas took nine shots during the game — but the lack of accuracy behind them saved Florida.
“They’re a pretty predictable team,” Burleigh said. “But just because they’re predictable doesn’t make them easy to deal with. It’s physical.
“It’s just putting a lot of bodies in front of the goal and just battling.”
The Gators had to battle through a close call in the 89th minute when the Razorbacks earned a free kick from a Florida foul in the attacking third. Arkansas packed the box and sent a shot forward.
Junior goalkeeper Taylor Burke made a difficult save at the far post, diving to the ground to keep the ball from finding the feet of any Arkansas players. The Gators pushed the ball back into Razorbacks territory to run out the remainder of the clock.
After ending the game with a shutout, Florida will advance to the semifinals and play No. 4 Ole Miss on Friday night.
“I’m really proud of us getting the shutout because [Arkansas is] hard to shut out,” Burleigh said. “We just have to get our bodies ready for Friday and recover.”
Follow Michelle Provenzano on Twitter @mmprovenzano.
Savannah Jordan dribbles the ball during Florida’s 2-0 win against Texas A&M on Oct. 27 in Gainesville. Jordan scored the game-winning goal in Florida's 1-0 win against Arkansas on Wednesday.
