In what may have been Florida’s most heated match of the season, sophomore forward Lena Bailey was fouled on a breakaway between two Oklahoma defenders just in front of the Sooners’ 18-yard box.
With 10 minutes remaining in the match, the Gators trailed 1-0 and missed a pivotal opportunity to draw the match to clinch an SEC Tournament berth.
After enduring a match with 36 combined fouls, UF head coach Samantha Bohon reacted to the foul called on Bailey’s breakaway. Bohon received a questionable yellow card for seamlessly standing up from Florida’s bench.
“It’s a heated game,” Bohon said. “There’s a lot of emotion in the game, although I think that’s the quietest yellow I’ve ever gotten.”
Florida (4-7-6, 1-6-2 SEC) was eliminated from SEC Tournament contention following a 1-0 loss to Oklahoma (10-7-1, 3-6-1 SEC) at Donald R. Dizney Stadium Sunday.
The match was intense from the start as both the Gators and the Sooners entered their first meeting as SEC opponents as the bottom two teams in the conference standings.
Oklahoma scored its first goal of the match on its first shot of the match Sooners senior forward Ella Pappas and junior defender Cassie Clifton assisted junior forward Hadley Murrell who found the back of UF’s net.
Murrell’s goal came off a deflection, catching Florida graduate student goalkeeper Alexa Goldberg off guard, to secure Oklahoma’s lead.
“Honestly, the only thing I think we didn’t do up to our standard was literally their one chance,” Bohon said. “We just switched off and didn’t track a player. But for 90 minutes, I thought we had a great intensity. We had [a] really competitive mentality.”
Florida found itself unable to score, a pattern that has been consistent this season for the Gators. UF’s offense has totaled just 13 goals this season.
“We created chances, especially in the second half,” Bohon said. “How some of those don’t go in? If this doesn’t embody our season, I don’t know what will.”
In the opening five minutes, Florida came out strong, looking to bounce back from a tough 3-1 loss to Alabama on Thursday.
The Gators dominated possession and even took the first shot of the match, with freshman forward Vera Blom chasing down the ball and crossing it into the 18-yard box to sophomore forward Amelia Malkin. Malkin was able to get the ball on her foot for a shot, but it missed out right at 7:55.
Florida’s next best offensive chance occurred much later in the match with 15 minutes remaining. Bailey moved the ball off an aggressive, yet clean play that allowed her to pass to freshman defender Skye Barnes at 75:46. Barnes nearly scored off her shot, but it was narrowly cleaned out by Oklahoma’s defense.
Shortly after, senior defender Madison Young had a promising header off a free kick at 77:21, but missed out right.
Oklahoma’s offense was able to consistently find openings for runs, allowing the Sooners to get 9 shots off with three on goal, while Florida had eight shots with zero being on goal.
Defensively, the Sooners were sharper and more organized. They did not let up or give the Gators any threatening chances at goal.
For Florida’s defense on the other hand, graduate student defender Anna DeLeon had a standout game to fill the void left by graduate student defender Daviana Vaka, who was out after receiving a red card in Thursday’s match.
UF redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Jayden Emmaneul took the net at the beginning of the second half, making a crucial save on a shot by Oklahoma position Sophie Green at 78:44 to stop the Sooners from doubling the score.
“We just took a little bit of a different approach, and we put Jay in…,” Bohon said. “We felt we could use Jay’s serves and play a little bit more direct, and put some more numbers higher up, because we anticipated them kind of sitting back a little bit.”
The Gators also recorded 22 fouls,to the Sooners’ 14. Florida graduate student defender Emilee Hauser even received the first yellow card of the match at 62:37, beginning a string of stoppages and criticism towards the referees.
“You could tell there’s a lot on the line for both teams. So both teams are playing really hard,” Bohon said. “This is their last game, so they needed this to go to the SEC Tournament.”
Graduate student midfielder Cailey England received the first and only yellow card for Oklahoma, while a yellow card on Bohon and senior midfielder Lauren Donovan followed for Florida.
After Bohon was carded, the Gators were fired up and ready to give their all on the field in the last 10 minutes of play, but it was still not enough to earn the draw.
“I’m really, really, really proud of the fight. We went down swinging,” Bohon said. “I’m sad for our players, because they deserve more than this. I honestly thought we were the better team today, but that’s soccer.”
Florida competes in its final match of the season against Tennessee on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
“Our record does not reflect how talented we are,” Bohon said. “I think that they still feel like they have something to prove, just simply because we’re better than what our records show. They’re pretty fired up and anxious for Wednesday.”
Contact Amanda Roman at aroman@alligator.org. Follow her on X @mandy_romannn
Amanda Roman is a sophomore sports journalism major and The Alligator's Fall 2024 Soccer Reporter. She interned for Fort Lauderdale United FC this past summer as the team's journalist. In her free time, she enjoys lifting, shopping and reading.
