Gator Soccer Hosts UCF

Game four for Gator soccer kicks off with UCF at home. Florida is coming off a tie against Texas last week and is 0-1-1 through its first two games. UCF also played Texas last week, but walked off the pitch with a 4-0 victory.

UCF women’s soccer is No. 19, while UF remains unranked.

Florida v. Texas

Sunday’s home-opener for Florida started slow with the first goal being scored by Texas in the 61st minute. UF’s goal to tie the game did not come until the 87th minute by graduate student, Kit Loferski.

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The score remained 1-1 for the rest of regulation time and all the way through two periods of overtime.

Finally, the game was called a tie, 1-1.

UCF v. Texas

UCF’s season opener against Texas, varied starkly to Florida’s.

The Knights came out of the gates shooting, scoring the first goal in 80 seconds. Two more shots made it into the back of the net for UCF before the end of the first half, bringing the score to 3-1.

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In the 74th minute, the Black and Gold punched in their last goal, finishing the game 4-0.

Coach Tony Amato

2021 marks the start to a new era for Florida Gator Soccer, with Tony Amato taking over as head coach. Amato previously worked at Rollins, Stephen F. Austin and Arizona.

Former Head Coach, Becky Burleigh, stepped down from the position after 26 seasons with the team at the beginning of last season.

Amato Pre Game

Coach Amato said that it was difficult to make predictions about the team heading into their game with Texas.

“We didn’t know a lot about our team going into the weekend,” Amato said. “Just because you know, we were thrown into it pretty quick and didn’t have a lot of training.”

He went on to say that he was pleased with how the team adjusted, though.

“For this group to be able to respond late in games, because it happened in our preseason game, I thought we pushed all the way through for the South Florida game until the end and showed urgency and then obviously got the late goal against Texas.”

The late goal against Texas was an indicator that the team is able to comeback while being down.

“Our team showed that they can do that,” he said. “To come back a goal down or push and show the urgency like games to at least give yourself a chance to get a better result. So I’ve been pleased with that.”

Amato also said that the team’s issues come from getting down early and having to fight back later.

“I think in a couple weeks we’ll have our identity pan out and have a much better idea of how it’s going to look.”

Florida v. UCF

The Gators host the Knights tonight at 7 and can be streamed on SEC Network Plus.