Friday night's match gave the UF soccer team a chance to measure itself.
After a weekend when No. 14 Florida blew a lead in the last 10 minutes against Mississippi, coach Becky Burleigh called her team's desire into question,
UF (9-4-1, 3-1-1 Southeastern Conference) downed Alabama (5-4-1, 1-2-1 SEC) 2-0.
Florida dominated the game, keeping the ball on Alabama's side of the field and outshooting the Crimson Tide 21-4.
Defender Kayla Bala suggested this week in practice that the Gators had been playing down to their opponents' abilities, but sluggish play did not appear to affect Florida on Friday.
The Gators put Crimson Tide goalkeeper Justine Bernier under fire from the opening kickoff, and it only took seven minutes for UF to get on the board.
The score occurred when midfielder Brooke Thigpen carried the ball to the left wing and passed it between three Crimson Tide defenders to sophomore Lindsay Thompson in the penalty box.
Thompson then turned on an Alabama player, leaving Bernier as her only obstacle, but the goalkeeper had no hope as Thompson placed the ball in the upper-right corner of the net.
Thompson, the Gators' leading scorer, has eight goals through 13 games. Thompson scored seven goals during her freshman campaign in 2008.
But even with all the pressure, the Gators were unable to distance themselves from the Tide. Burleigh said the team misfired on its crosses into the penalty box too much.
The biggest question for the Gators entering the game was how the defense would play. The team was told it was giving opponents too much room to breathe, but the Tide was unable to get a clean look at the net all night.
While the defense's play was more effective, Burleigh said Alabama did not play well enough to measure how far the defense has come in one week.
"The opponent is not the issue," Burleigh said. "The issue is whether or not we give up scoring opportunities, and we didn't give up any scoring opportunities tonight."
Defender Tricia Townsend said the team put an emphasis on meeting opponents at midfield and holding opponents to fewer than five shots.
But Townsend was also one of the players who was expected to put crosses into the box and failed.
"My crosses were off," she said.
