Gators soccer entered the second half deadlocked at zero against the No. 5 Florida State Seminoles.
The Seminoles continued to send shots but failed to breakthrough until late in the second half. FSU senior forward Jody Brown exploded down the middle of the field and beat a UF defender to get space in the box.
She quickly fired a shot and scored the first goal of the game with an assist from FSU senior forward Beata Olsson.
Brown’s goal signified the end of the Gators’ undefeated streak of the season.
The Florida Gators (4-1-2) lost to Florida State (5-0-0) Sunday afternoon in Tallahassee. The Gators lost their undefeated streak against their in-state rivals.
During the first half, the Seminoles led an offensive attack, but fell short scoring.
In the 30th minute, FSU freshman forward Jordynn Dudley took a shot at the open goal but missed.
The Seminoles put up a strong offensive attack led by Brown in the first half and had six shot attempts, while the Gators only mustered two. The Seminoles swarmed the Gators all match long with ten total shots and 11 corner kicks.
In the 49th minute, UF senior midfielder Julianne Leskauskas took a shot in an attempt to break the deadlock e but fell short.
UF senior goalkeeper Alexa Goldberg finished with two saves in the match. FSU continued to dominate possession but only managed to get three of their 10 shots on goal. Goldberg flew all over the box and even came up to the top of the box to break up a Florida State through ball.
Despite the Seminoles offensive attack falling short in the first half, they came back to win the rivalry game. Brown capitalized on her chance late in the second half to secure the 1-0 victory. The goal was just the second allowed by Goldberg and the Gators this season.
The Gators will next play at home against the Missouri Tigers at 7 p.m. Friday. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Contact Claire at cgrunewald@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @grunewaldclaire.
Claire Grunewald is a fourth-year journalism major and the Spring 2024 Editor In Chief of The Alligator. In her free time, she likes to go to concerts and attempt to meet her Goodreads reading goal.
