No. 20 Gators Travel to Tennessee

The No. 20 Florida soccer team takes on the Volunteers in Knoxville tonight at 7. It has been nearly a week since the Gators’ last game, a 2-1 victory over Auburn. That game brought Florida to 6-1 in the SEC and 10-5 on the season.

Strong Conference Play

The Gators began playing SEC opponents at the end of September to determine who makes it into the SEC tournament. Florida won its first four conference games and has won seven of its last eight overall. The Gators have outscored their conference opponents by an 18-9 margin, and sit second in the SEC standings, trailing only Arkansas.

Senior midfielder Parker Roberts spoke about what has contributed to the team’s good SEC record so far this season:

A Look at the Vols

Florida takes on Tennessee in what is the third-to-last game of the regular season for both sides. After a strong season last year (16-3-3) that earned them a No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament, the Vols are struggling to replicate that success. Tennessee is 8-5-2 so far, including a 2-4-1 conference record. They sit 11th in the 14-team standings. The team enters tonight’s contest coming off a 1-1 double overtime draw against No. 7 South Carolina.

Senior forward Mary Alice Vignola has been one of Tennessee’s standout players. She leads the Vols with eight goals in 15 games and is second on the squad in assists, with three. She has scored six of the team’s last eight goals and will look to continue her good form against the Gators tonight.

Surging Gators

With their two wins last week, Florida climbed four spots up to No. 20 in the United Soccer Coaches poll. The team has only lost once since Sept. 12, falling to Ole Miss 3-2 in a tough away match.

Forward Kouri Peace and Roberts have scored in the Gators’ past two games. Peace, a freshman, has earned plenty of minutes recently and she has made them count, earning SEC Freshman Player of the Week honors.

#SECSOC Weekly Honors have been announced.

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— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) October 21, 2019