In the 67th minute, senior Brooke Sharp lofted a ball to senior Savannah Jordan in front of Georgia’s box.
Surrounded by three defenders, Jordan took possession and shot from 10 yards out, putting the Gators up 3-0 and giving Jordan her second goal of the game.
And behind her team's second-half offensive performance, the No. 16 Gators (9-3, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) cruised past the Bulldogs (3-9-1, 0-6 SEC) with a 3-1 win, securing their third-straight SEC win of the season on Thursday.
The win marked just the second time this season that Florida has won three consecutive games.
“We want to be a team who plays for each other, and I think you’re starting to see more and more of that,” UF coach Becky Burleigh said. “I am really happy because I think that’s something that’s going to pay dividends as we continue the season.”
But the Gators' trend of starting slow on offense continued.
Florida wasn’t able to get on the board until three minutes before the half.
In the 43rd minute, sophomore Rachelle Smith sprinted from midfield to the corner of the field and fed the ball to senior Meggie Dougherty Howard.
Dougherty Howard spun between between two defenders and hit inside the right side of the net from seven yards away, putting the Gators up 1-0 going into halftime.
It was her fifth goal of the season.
“It was good for us to get one going into halftime just because we had really been putting the pressure on them so it was good for us to get rewarded with a goal,” Dougherty Howard said. “It was a really good team goal. We had really good buildup and then I saw space so I ran into it and Rachelle hit me an awesome ball.”
Jordan’s first goal came in the 50th minute off a penalty kick after Georgia defender Caroline Water’s hand blocked her shot.
And a few minutes later, she picked up the 75th goal of her career and her 10th on the season.
“Georgia came out really hard. They’re a good team,” said Jordan, who scored twice Thursday. “Defensively, I think they were pretty prepared to play us. But our team did a really good job of keeping the ball, keeping possession, doing what we are good at.”
Jordan is now just 21 goals away from Florida’s all-time career goal leader Abby Wambach, who had 96.
The senior also took a team-high 10 shots in the game.
Now the Gators look to Sunday, when they travel to Oxford, Mississippi to take on Ole Miss.
Contact Lauren Staff at lstaff@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @lstaff27.
Savannah Jordan dribbles the ball during Florida's 5-2 win over Iowa State on Aug. 19 at James G. Pressly Stadium.
