Florida avoided a letdown on Sunday, defeating Arkansas 3-1 and notching another conference road victory.
After a nail-biting win against No. 6 Texas A&M Friday night, the Gators (10-2, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) played the unranked Razorbacks (6-3-4, 2-1-2 SEC) in Fayetteville, Ark., in a contest that had all the makings of a trap-game.
But Florida was ready.
The Gators controlled possession from the start of the game but were unable to create any quality chances early on.
But in the 22nd minute, Liz Slattery took a cross from a corner kick and scored the game’s first goal, a diving header that gave the goalkeeper no chance to react.
Florida coach Becky Burleigh appreciated the quality goal from Slattery, who was inserted into the starting lineup Sunday from her normal substitute position.
"The diving header was awesome," Burleigh said. "We always say in practice diving headers count double, unfortunately in real games they don’t."
Savannah Jordan added her team-leading ninth goal of the season in the 34th minute to push Florida’s lead to two goals, which the Gators would take into the half.
It appeared the Gators had control of the match, but the Razorbacks were not ready to give up just yet, and Arkansas came out swinging to start the second half.
In the 61st minute, the Razorbacks capitalized on a set piece — an area of weakness for the Gators according to Burleigh – and cut the lead to one.
They continued to pressure Florida and took a number of shots, including one that hit the post in the 67th minute.
But Florida regained its composure and began to sustain possession again, relieving the pressure on the defenders. And in the 80th minute, the Gators put the nail in the coffin.
Tessa Andujar had the ball on the right side of the Razorbacks goal, just outside the penalty box. She took her defender to the right, then cut back to the left and took a shot with her left foot.
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The shot curled around the goalkeeper and into the top-left of the net with pinpoint accuracy, making it virtually impossible to stop.
"It was a beautiful finish," Burleigh said. "Teams really fear her at this point. Teams stand off of her because they’re afraid of getting beat one on one. She’s getting a lot of respect around the country for what she’s doing."
Although Burleigh wasn’t thrilled with how Florida came out to play the second half, she said she liked how the team responded when faced with adversity to ultimately get the win.
"I think we responded well, obviously with the third goal," she said. "I think we just gave up a couple of unnecessary fouls which gave them set pieces, and we know they’re dangerous on that.
"I think we just needed to find our way again in terms of keeping possession and getting back our rhythm, and once we did that we felt a lot more comfortable."
Follow Graham Hack on Twitter @graham_hack24
Tessa Andujar dribbles the ball during Florida's 3-1 win against Missouri.
