Florida Falls 1-0 to Kentucky in SEC Tournament Opening Round
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Soccer often comes down to a single moment, and on Sunday afternoon in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, that moment belonged to Kentucky. The Wildcats capitalized early to edge Florida 1-0 in the second match of the day at Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Stadium.
“It was just one of those games where the difference came down to one moment,” Florida Head Coach Samantha Bohon said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t take advantage of ours, and they did—credit to Kentucky.”
Kentucky struck in the 11th minute when Tanner Strickland connected with Kendall Campbell on the right flank. Campbell sent a cross to the far post, where Catherine Rapp finished with a one-touch goal from close range.
It was a disappointing end to a season that showed the potential of this Gator team, as UF was unbeaten in seven of its final nine matches. Florida led the match in shots (8) and corner kicks (4)
“I’m really proud of our players,” Bohon said. “I thought that they worked really hard and they went down fighting. We made a change [in the second half]. I think it was the right change as we had a lot of possession.
“I was really happy with our players. They had great energy. They were ready to compete. They stayed positive, they believed, as they have all season long. We’re just really sad, because this is such a great group. That’s the hard part of this. Hard because they did so many things really, really well – just wished we figured out how to get one on the scoreboard.”
“Again, proud of our effort, but just really disappointed, because I felt like we were ready to do more in this tournament.”
Today’s result marks the end of Florida’s season and the Gator careers of its four seniors.
Njeri Butts
Lauren McCloskey
Charlotte McClure
Tatum O’Coyne
“I want to say thank you to our seniors,” Bohon said. “They’ve done a really good job of guiding [the younger players] on and off the field, so we’re grateful for them and the contribution that they made for Florida soccer. They brought us here to our first postseason since I’ve been at the helm, so they definitely left the program better than when they found it.
“We’re not looking back, and we’ve got more and more talent coming in. The future is definitely bright.”
Freshman Kai Tsakiris, who earned spots on both the All-SEC third and All-Freshman teams, echoed Bohon’s thoughts.
“We’re so grateful for our seniors who are a big part of the accomplishments of this program and what they’ve done to get the team to this point,” Tsakiris said. “We’re going to miss them, but super excited for the incoming Gators. I’m so excited for the upcoming season. We know what we have, and there’s more to come.”
“It was just one of those games where the difference came down to one moment,” Florida Head Coach Samantha Bohon said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t take advantage of ours, and they did—credit to Kentucky.”
Kentucky struck in the 11th minute when Tanner Strickland connected with Kendall Campbell on the right flank. Campbell sent a cross to the far post, where Catherine Rapp finished with a one-touch goal from close range.
It was a disappointing end to a season that showed the potential of this Gator team, as UF was unbeaten in seven of its final nine matches. Florida led the match in shots (8) and corner kicks (4)
“I’m really proud of our players,” Bohon said. “I thought that they worked really hard and they went down fighting. We made a change [in the second half]. I think it was the right change as we had a lot of possession.
“I was really happy with our players. They had great energy. They were ready to compete. They stayed positive, they believed, as they have all season long. We’re just really sad, because this is such a great group. That’s the hard part of this. Hard because they did so many things really, really well – just wished we figured out how to get one on the scoreboard.”
“Again, proud of our effort, but just really disappointed, because I felt like we were ready to do more in this tournament.”
Today’s result marks the end of Florida’s season and the Gator careers of its four seniors.
Njeri Butts
Lauren McCloskey
Charlotte McClure
Tatum O’Coyne
“I want to say thank you to our seniors,” Bohon said. “They’ve done a really good job of guiding [the younger players] on and off the field, so we’re grateful for them and the contribution that they made for Florida soccer. They brought us here to our first postseason since I’ve been at the helm, so they definitely left the program better than when they found it.
“We’re not looking back, and we’ve got more and more talent coming in. The future is definitely bright.”
Freshman Kai Tsakiris, who earned spots on both the All-SEC third and All-Freshman teams, echoed Bohon’s thoughts.
“We’re so grateful for our seniors who are a big part of the accomplishments of this program and what they’ve done to get the team to this point,” Tsakiris said. “We’re going to miss them, but super excited for the incoming Gators. I’m so excited for the upcoming season. We know what we have, and there’s more to come.”
Records:
Florida: 6-7-5, 2-3-5 SEC
Kentucky: 12-4-3, 5-2-3 SEC
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Series Record:
Florida leads 25-6-7
SEC Soccer Tournament site
Florida (6-7-5, 2-3-5 SEC) vs Kentucky (12-4-3, 5-2-3 SEC)
Stadium: Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Stadium (1225)
Weather: 70 degrees, clear, wind NW at 7 mph
| Goals by Period | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Florida | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kentucky | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Scoring Summary:
| No. | Time | Team | Goal Scorer | Assist |
| 1. | 10:26 | UK | Catherine Rapp | Kendall Campbell, Tanner Strickland |
Shots: UF 8, UK 6
Saves: UF 1 (Paloma Peña 1), UK 0 (Megan Holland 0)
Offsides: UF 0, UK 3
Cautions: Kai Tsakiris-UF (yellow) 46:26; Skye Leach-UK (yellow) 61:09; Catherine Rapp-UK (yellow) 64:32; Charlotte McClure-UF (yellow) 88:00
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