Havana Solaun has a history of being a relentless goal scorer against Mississippi.
The junior midfielder scored two goals to clinch a 2-0 victory over Ole Miss in 2011 and jumpstarted Florida’s offense in 2012, scoring the first goal en route to a 3-1 win.
This year, Solaun came out with that relentlessness when Florida needed it the most.
Solaun gave Florida its second goal en route to a 2-1 victory over Ole Miss in the semifinal round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Ala., on Friday.
After sophomore midfielder Lauren Smith fell in the box, Solaun outsmarted Ole Miss goalkeeper Kelly McCormick on a penalty kick and rifled the ball into the net in the 18th minute.
“It’s never easy to do that in a pressure situation,” coach Becky Burleigh said of the penalty kick. “I always credit Havana to stepping up and always being the first one to volunteer and do that. I thought she did a great job of burying it.”
But Solaun wasn’t just up for the challenge of going into a set piece situation.
Solaun started out the game on point, acting as playmaker on Florida’s first goal of the game.
Solaun found freshman forward Savannah Jordan and sent her a pass in the box.
Jordan saw that McCormick was leaning to her right and powered in a shot in the left side of the goal, giving the Gators an early 1-0 lead in the 11th minute.
“It was almost one of those goals that the keeper was sort of anticipating a little bit early,” Burleigh said. “Savannah did a great job of sort of changing her decision to where she was going to put the ball.”
Jordan now sits at 22 goals scored this season.
Despite Florida dominating possession in the first half, Ole Miss found a way to retaliate.
A glitch in Florida’s defense allowed sophomore midfielder Jennifer Miller to make a left-footed shot from 25 yards out and power it into the Gators goal in the 30th minute.
The second half saw Florida out shooting Ole Miss 9-4, but the Gators couldn’t finish off any of the opportunities they had.
“The only thing we didn’t do very efficiently was score goals,” Burleigh said. “We created lots of chances and probably should have put away a couple more.
“But at this stage of the game, it’s win and advance. We did that, so mission accomplished.”
Florida will head into the SEC Championship match on Sunday at the Orange Beach Sportsplex at 1 p.m.
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.
