Florida Soccer Falls At Home To No. 3 FSU

The Florida Gators soccer team had a big challenge to face Sunday with No. 3 and defending national champion Florida State coming to town.

And while they performed admirably, the Gators were not able to overcome that challenge, falling 3-0 to the Seminoles at Dizney Stadium. FSU’s elite talent and coaching were simply too much for the Gators (2-1-3), who have lost seven consecutive matches against the Seminoles (5-0-1).

A Tale of Two Midfields

Seminoles attacking midfielder Taylor Huff scored the first goal of the match in the 15th minute. Receiving the ball inside the box, she was swarmed by two Gator defenders, but managed to cut the ball back onto her left foot and squeeze a shot into the bottom-right corner of the goal.

That goal personified the difference between the teams – while the Seminoles midfield was able to retain possession and create chances in tight spaces, the Gators midfield could not.

Under immense pressure from Florida State while in possession, Florida’s midfielders were often forced to hoof the ball downfield, where they were far less likely to win the ball.

This resulted in Florida State, which owns a 29-match unbeaten streak, holding possession for the majority of the match, and also generating more chances.

Florida did changed formations in the second half and worked its way back into the match. The midfield did a much better job retaining possession, but still lacked chance creation.

As a result, Florida was still unable to generate much threat on the FSU goal.

High Line Proved Risky Business for Florida

Florida coach Samantha Bohon knew her team had to take risks in order to compete with a team as well-rounded as Florida State.

And with that in mind, the Florida defense was instructed to play a high line to deny the Seminoles attacking opportunities by catching their forwards offsides. This condensed the field, which gave the Gators a chance to take the ball away from Florida State and counterattack quickly.

Gators forward Lena Bailey had a big chance in the first half on one such counterattack, but had her shot blocked by ‘Noles defender Sophia Nguyen.

Florida defended resolutely following the Huff goal, and kept the team down just a goal for the rest of the first half.

But it was only a matter of time until Florida State got going offensively.

In the second half, Huff was caught offside by Florida high line, but the ‘Noles were immediately back on attack mode.

Following a goal kick, FSU’s midfield won the ball and forward Kameron Simmonds got in behind the Florida defense. Her shot evaded goalkeeper Paloma Peña, but was denied by the post.

In the 57th minute, fellow forward Wrianna Hudson also got in behind and finished into the bottom left corner of the goal to make it 2-0 FSU.

And with less than 10 minutes to go in the match, Simmonds made amends for her miss earlier in the half by finishing off a beautiful counterattack with a goal to put the Gators away for good.

Gators’ Solid Set Pieces

Although Bailey’s physicality helped the Gators hold the ball and find runners in open play, Florida was at its most dangerous on corner kicks.

The Gators’ first corner kick of the day resulted in a header on target by defender Madison Young. However, the attempt was cleared off of the goal line by Seminoles defender Ran Iwai.

And at the end of the first half, a string of corners from Florida again threatened the Florida State goal.

Swinging balls in to the far-post area of the pitch, the Gators got numbers into the box and attempted to escape their Seminoles markers.

However, despite those threats, the Gators still could not find the back of the net.

But it was a good effort from the Gators to try and take advantage of the most fickle part of the game. Especially considering they faced a team that has not lost in its last 28 games.

Up Next

Florida will host Kennesaw State (0-5-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday (SEC Network+). Florida State will take on Syracuse at home on Sept. 19.