Losing is a tough pill to swallow.
After dropping only four games combined during the regular season and Southeastern Conference Tournament play, the Gators expected to play deep into the NCAA Tournament.
But Florida fell 1-0 in a second-round battle against Duke in Durham, N.C., on Friday night, making it the 10th straight season the Gators failed to advance past the Sweet Sixteen.
“It’s frustrating because we play games like that where they can go either way, and you just want them to go your way,” coach Becky Burleigh said. “I think that when you look at teams that are either still in the tournament and are advancing, and you know that you’re as good as those teams, that’s hard.
“At the same time, it all comes down to what you do on that particular day. Duke did a terrific job of hanging on defensively and they executed a really great chance to score a goal — we didn’t do that.”
As difficult as it is for UF to accept the end of the season, this year was a strong one for the 19-year-old program.
“When you look at just purely on the result, it’s hard to see that there was a breakthrough this year,” Burleigh said. “But what happened through the course of the year, there was.”
The breakthrough came in the form of Savannah Jordan.
The freshman forward made an immediate impact, scoring 22 goals this season — the second most by a freshman in program history. Jordan finished one goal shy of Andi Sellers’ 23-goal season in 1997.
Jordan is tied for third in the nation in scoring this season and is currently training with the U-20 Women’s National Team in Carson, Calif.
“Certainly, she progressed as the year went on, too,” Burleigh said. “That’s not easy to do when you become a marked woman. Midway through, everyone knew that’s who [teams] were going to focus on.”
Then there is the anchor of the backline, sophomore Christen Westphal.
Unlike in her freshman season, Westphal helped the attack, scoring her first collegiate goal off a 40-yard free kick en route to a 5-1 victory over Georgia on Oct. 31.
“If you look at the role that Christen Westphal played, even in this last game, we put her up top in [junior midfielder Havana Solaun’s] absence through a lot of that game,” Burleigh said. “That was something we had never done before.”
The Gators expect to return all 11 starters from this season, and Burleigh said the team will continue to push the envelope.
“I think that’s a good foundation for us going forward,” Burleigh said. “It’s a bright future, it’s just really hard to focus on that right now.”
Junior undergoes surgery: Solaun had knee surgery Monday to repair a torn right ACL she suffered in the SEC Championship against Texas A&M.
Burleigh said Solaun should recover and be ready to participate in about six months.
“Havana is a really disciplined worker,” Burleigh said. “When it comes to her rehab, I have no doubt it will be the same way. We’ve never had a player that hasn’t come back stronger in some way or another.”
Follow Michelle Provenzano on Twitter @mmprovenzano.
Savannah Jordan dribbles the ball during Florida’s 2-0 win against Jacksonville on Nov. 16 in Gainesville.
