It didn’t take long for the Florida soccer team to show that it was clicking on all cylinders in Sunday’s match against Jacksonville University.
The No. 10 Gators (5-2-0) scored two goals in the first five minutes of the match en-route to beating the Dolphins (1-5-1) 4-0.
Junior midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard sent the ball into the box in the third minute to junior forward Savannah Jordan, which deflected off a JU defender and into the back of the net.
The Gators’ second goal was scored in the fifth minute by Jordan on a cross from senior defender Christen Westphal.
Coach Becky Burleigh said she challenged her team to get off to a quick start against Jacksonville following the Gators’ 2-1 loss to No. 6 Texas A&M on Thursday.
Burleigh said the focus going into Sunday’s match was to break the game up into smaller portions.
"We talked about resilience and needing to bounce back," Burleigh said. "We also tried to divide the first half into two halves and said we needed to win each of those halves so it was a pretty big emphasis on winning the period."
After the fast start, the Gators struck again in the 20th minute when junior forward Brooke Sharp put the ball in the back of the net off a Kristen Cardano cross.
The shots continued to come for the Gators as they amassed 17 shots during the first 45 minutes of play.
The Gators fourth goal of the match came in the 34th minute when junior midfielder Pamela Begic headed a Rachelle Smith cross past the Jacksonville goalkeeper’s fingertips.
Burleigh said that the team wanted to continue to attack the goal despite the large lead the Gators built early.
"Well I don’t think they ever stopped attacking the goal, so that was a good thing," Burleigh said. "They were pretty relentless. We had some great serves in the box and I thought the Jacksonville keeper did a good job of keeping the ball out of the net in the second half."
Despite no shortage of offensive chances for the Gators, Burleigh said the team still needs to get better, but was happy with the team’s unity.
"I think that my only disappointment in the game was that we didn’t win each of the periods," Burleigh said. "The second two we didn’t win."
Freshman goalkeeper Kaylan Marckese got the start in the net for Florida on Sunday, making the first start of her collegiate career.
Marckese made four saves in the game, preserving the Gators’ second shutout of the season. One of her saves came in the final moments of the match when she successfully defended a penalty kick in the 85th minute.
The ball was struck straight at the freshman who collected the shot immediately upon impact.
Burleigh was happy with the experience Marckese got against Jacksonville and the opportunity to play some younger players after being ahead by four goals.
"I think some people have really been doing well in practice," Burleigh said. "We knew we wanted to get some people in the game, but we had to wait til that opportunity presented itself, and it certainly did with the fast start."
Burleigh emptied her bench in the second half replacing all of the Gators starting 11 besides Marckese.
Freshmen Brittney Bennett, Alyssa Howell, Morgan Mannweiler along with redshirt freshmen Jessie Holmes and Courtney Douglas saw their first action as Gators during the second half.
Burleigh said defense will be something the team needs to continue to improve on as it prepares for two games this week.
"I think we definitely need to get better defensively," Burleigh said. "We’ve given up too many goals at this point, but that’s something that we’re going to work on going forward."
Follow Ryan Summers on Twitter @RyanSummers18
UF forward Savannah Jordan (right) dribbles the ball during the Gators' 2-1 loss to Texas A&M on Sept. 10, 2015, at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
