No. 6 Florida (2-1-0) entered Friday night’s game against No. 3 Stanford (3-0-0) with a chip on its shoulder.
The last time the team traveled to Palo Alto, California, to play the Cardinal was 2014 when Stanford knocked Florida out of the NCAA Championships by a score of 4-3, decided by overtime penalty kicks.
For the third consecutive meeting between the two schools, overtime was needed to decide a winner.
But the Cardinal shined in overtime once again.
Stanford won 1-0 as sophomore midfielder Jordan DeBiasi scored at the in the 96th minute, ending UF’s two-game winning streak.
“I’m really proud of the way we played. I think we learned a lot about ourselves tonight,” coach Becky Burleigh said in a release. “This is a great opportunity for us to be put under some pressure and see what we could do under that pressure. We are going to learn a lot from this – I’m really excited that we had this game.”
Although Florida didn’t leave with a win at Cagan Stadium, they didn’t just hand it to Stanford either.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kaylan Marckese put up a fight with some key saves, six in total, equalling her collegiate best.
The Gators best chance of getting on the board came at the 76th minute when sophomore Melanie Monteagudo, who was trying to find senior Savannah Jordan, sent a free ball to the 6-yard box.
But Florida couldn’t get to it before senior Stanford goalkeeper Jane Campbell.
The Gators next travel south to play No. 15 UCLA at 6 p.m. on Sunday.
“From an effort perspective, it was terrific energy around our team, and the game and the bench. Everything was awesome,” Burleigh said. “Stanford did a good job to finish an opportunity off a set piece to end the game. But overall, win or lose, this game doesn’t define us. It is more about what we take from it.”
Contact Lauren Staff at lstaff@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @lstaff27.
UF forward Savannah Jordan fights for possession during Florida's 5-2 win against Iowa State on Aug. 19, 2016, at James G. Pressly Stadium.
