BATON ROUGE, La. — Florida’s seven match unbeaten stretch ended with Louisiana State taking a 4-1 Senior Day win Sunday afternoon at the LSU Soccer Stadium.
 
Heading to Pensacola:
Florida returns to Southeastern Conference Tournament action this season.
 
Florida came into Sunday’s match in 11^th place with 11 points off two wins and five ties, needing one of three scenarios to play out to advance to the 12-team SEC Tournament field:
               UF win or tie at LSU
               Tie or loss by Auburn vs Missouri

               Tie or loss by Texas A&M vs Kentucky
 

Auburn and Missouri tied at 1-1 Sunday in Auburn, Ala., guaranteeing the Gators a SEC Tournament berth as AU finished league regular-season action behind UF with nine points (1-3-6 SEC record). Texas A&M’s season closed Sunday with a 3-0 home loss to Kentucky.
 
Florida leads all league programs with 12 SEC Tournament titles, with the last coming in 2016. This will be Florida’s first SEC Tournament appearance since the 2021 season.
 
SEC Tournament action for the Gators begin Sunday, Nov. 2 at 3 p.m. ET versus Kentucky. The match can be seen live on the SEC Network.
 
The SEC Tournament opens November 2 at the Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex in Pensacola, Fla. 
 
Today’s Scoring:
The Tigers struck quickly in the opening minute. Kelsey Major sent a deep cross that Ava Galligan touched out to open space above the six-yard box. Sariyah Bailey stepped up for a right-footed one-touch strike that scored just 58 seconds in.
 
Galligan was even quicker to open the second half scoring. She tracked down the ball on the right side and took a touch to bring it into the box. Galligan’s left-footed shot hit the far post and kicked in at 45:24.
 
Florida drew within a goal in the 65^th minute. Kai Tsakiris brought the ball down the left side and then drove toward the box. The cross she sent was one-touched in from 12 yards by redshirt junior Tatum O’Coyne for her second goal of the season.
 
The goal kick by the Tigers’ Sophia Kevorkian was headed up at midfield by Galligan. Sariyah Bailey touched a square ball out which was picked up by Galligan and she drove through the Gator half to earn the brace from 15 yards in the 78^th minute.
 
Florida’s goal kick in the 84^th minute pinged around at midfield before LSU’s Gabbi Ceballos played a ball down the center of the field for Gadea Blanco Gonzalez to run down and close match scoring from 15 yards.
 
Coach Bohon Said:
“Certainly we are feeling conflicting emotions after today. We were disappointed in stretches of our performance, particularly the start of each half. We can’t go behind that early twice. But, I was proud to see our group continue to fight and pull within one. A credit to [Ava] Galligan for an elite individual effort to score the third for LSU. After that goal, we knew the result of the Auburn game and made substitutions to avoid injuries late. This needs to be an important learning opportunity for us to carry into the SEC Tournament. We won’t look past this game and will go back to identify where we have to be better. 
 
“This program has put in a ton of sweat equity over the years to claw our way back into post-season. When we look back on this season, we can recount multiple efforts where we were significant underdogs and pulled out a good result. Those efforts collectively have earned the right to extend our season. This week will offer a chance to reset and regroup. I expect our group to be excited to compete against anyone we face as they have shown their fighting spirit all fall.” – Florida Head Coach Samantha Bohon
 
Records:
Florida: 6-6-5, 2-3-5 SEC
Louisiana State: 10-5-3, 5-2-3 SEC
 
Series Record:
Florida leads 21-3-2
 
Next Up:
The Gators begins SEC Tournament action Sunday, Nov. 2 at 3 p.m. ET versus Kentucky (11-4-3, 5-2-3 SEC). All action at the SEC Tournament can be viewed on the SEC Network.
 
Florida (6-6-5, 2-3-5 SEC) at Louisiana State (10-5-3, 5-2-3 SEC)
Stadium: LSU Soccer Stadium
Weather: 84 degrees, mostly cloudy, wind W at 5 mph
 

Goals by Period	1	2	Total
Florida	0	1	1
Louisiana State	1	3	4

 
Scoring Summary:

No.	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist
1.	0.58	LSU	Sariyah Bailey	Ava Galligan, Kelsey Major
2.	45:24	LSU	Ava Galligan
3.	65:52	UF	Tatum O’Coyne	Kai Tsakiris
4.	77:53	LSU	Ava Galligan	Sariyah Bailey, Sophine Kevorkian
5.	83:22	LSU	Gadea Blanco-Gonzalez

 
Shots: UF 10, LSU 19
Saves: UF 9 (Paloma Peña 9), LSU 4 (Sophia Kevorkian 4)
 
Offsides: UF 0, LSU 3
 
Cautions: Kai Tsakiris-UF (67:14) – yellow; Sariyah Bailey-LSU (76:01) – yellow; Delaney Tellex-UF (89:04) – yellow