No. 2 seed Florida Soccer Opens NCAA Play with 2-1 Win over California

11/14/08

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A Gator senior contributed a goal in each half Friday, giving the No. 2 regional seed Florida soccer team (18-3-1, 11-0
SEC) a 2-1 win over California (10-9-1, 3-5-1 Pac-10) Friday evening in NCAA Championship First Round action held at the James G. Pressly Stadium.

Florida will face the winner of the UCF-Miami (Fla.) match also held Friday at the Pressly Stadium. NCAA Second Round action is set for Sunday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m.

For the third consecutive match, the Gators found themselves playing from behind. A misplay by the backline in Florida’s final third led to an early Bear goal. Freshman Natasha Richardson took the ball and scored her first goal as a Bear from 12-yards on her 1v1 opportunity with UF goalkeeper Katie Fraine in the fourth minute.

Florida evened the score when it capitalized on a set play opportunity in the 16th minute. The Gators were awarded a free kick 28-yards above the UC goal. Megan Kerns struck a ball that curved left into the net for her 12th goal of the season.

“I saw the keeper cheat a little bit to the left so I decided to go far post and it worked,” Kerns said.

The Gators’ go-ahead goal came early in the second half. Junior Caitlin Howard brought the ball deep into the UC box and served it to the far post. Kerns and Ameera Abdullah were in position to make a play on it, but it was Abdullah that was able to put it in from four yards for her eighth goal of the season.

Abdullah’s first thought when she saw that the strike was a goal was “We’re ahead!”

“I’m proud of the whole team for stepping up and Caitlin [Howard] for making a tremendous run down the line,” she continued. “I’m just happy that our team showed tremendous heart.”

The match was exactly what UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh expected – a challenging contest against a team from the highly-competitive Pacific 10 Conference.

“It was a tough game, just as we expected. We knew that Cal was going to take it to us and I thought they did. I’m proud of our team for coming back from a one goal deficit. Survive and advance, that’s what it’s all about at this point and that’s what we did.”

For the match, the two teams were even with six shots on goal each.
UF’s Fraine turned in five saves, while UC’s goalkeeper Gina Pellegrini had four saves.

Scoring Summary: 1st 2nd Final
California 1 0 1
Florida 1 1 2

Scoring:
UC – Natasha Richardson (unassisted) 3:34 UF – Megan Kerns (unassisted) 15:06 UF – Ameera Abdullah (Caitlin Howard) 50:22

Goalkeepers:
Minutes Saves GA
California Gina Pellegrini 90:00 4 2
Florida Katie Fraine 90:00 5 1


Statistical Summary: UC UF
Shots 14 8
Shots on goal 6 6
Saves 4 5
Corner Kicks 7 3
Fouls 11 14
Offside 3 0