Soccer Suffers 3-1 Loss At No. 14 Florida

Sunday, September 13

Gainesville, Fla.

10 a.m.

Colorado

4-3-0

Florida

5-2-0

Colorado

Florida

Photo by: Tony Harman

September 13, 2009 | Soccer

Box Score

By: Allie Musso, Assistant SID

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The 20th-ranked University of Colorado women's soccer team struggled to find the back of the net and suffered a 3-1 decision to No. 14 Florida here Sunday morning.

"We gave up a very bad goal, went down 2-0 away from home, it was hot, they were tired, and we panicked," said head coach Bill Hempen. "Once we gave up that goal it didn't get any better from there. It's human nature to deflate a little after something like that but we need to be able to battle through that and be stronger mentally."

Colorado (4-3) had a trio of opportunities in a four minute span to take the lead over the Gators, starting with a Kelly Butler free kick in the 27th minute. Butler set up about 30 yards out and sent a high shot on frame towards the Gators' goal. UF keeper Katie Fraine extended and punched the ball over the crossbar to preserve the tie.

Three minutes later, Erin Bricker got a pass behind the Gator defense in front of the goal and took the shot, but once again, Fraine would make the save and deflect the ball away.

Senior forward Nikki Marshall was next to strike in the 31st minute when Kelly Menachof sent a high cross into the center of the Florida goal box. Fraine attempted to come off her line and clear the ball out but she misread the cross and Marshall knocked the ball into the back of the net. Unfortunately, the goal was taken away due to an offsides call against Marshall.

Florida (5-2) would take the 1-0 lead in the final minutes of the half when freshman Holly King netted her first career goal. Jazmyne Avant threw the ball in to King, who took one touch at the top of the goal box and kicked the ball into the upper corner of the net.

Colorado outshot Florida four to three in the first half and took three shots on goal to the Gators' two.

Florida would go up 2-0 in the 48th minute on an Erika Tymrak shot at the top of the box. Tymrak fired a hard shot towards CU goalkeeper Kara Linder, and after making the initial save, Linder couldn't hold on to the ball and it bounced behind her into the back of the net.

The Gators' offense showed no signs of letting up and they would strike again in the 54th minute when Lindsay Thompson created a breakaway opportunity and when one-on-one with Linder. While Linder closed the gap on Thompson and dove right, she sent the ball towards Linder's left and gave the Gators a 3-0 lead.

Marshall nearly reenacted Thompson's goal in the 67th minute on the other side of the field, but Fraine made another tough save, keeping Colorado off the scoreboard with just over 20 minutes left to play.

Colorado, however, had no intention of being shutout and sophomore Kate Russell notched her first goal of the season and finally got the Buffs on the board in the 80th minute of the game. Russell set up for the free kick and sent a hard shot towards Florida's second goalkeeper, Kendall Graham. Graham got her hand on the ball but it wasn't enough to stop Russell's shot and the Buffs decreased Florida's lead to 3-1.

Florida finished the match outshooting the Buffaloes 10 to nine, but Colorado placed seven of its shots on goal to Florida's six.

"It was a tough travel day for us yesterday and it was very hot out there," added Hempen. "There were a lot of mental factors that affected us today, but, we'll be back at it on Tuesday and fix some things this week before we head to Stanford."

Colorado will hit the road again next weekend when they travel to California for the Stanford/NIKE Invitational. The Buffs will face No. 3 Stanford on Friday, Sept. 18 and Santa Clara on Sunday, Sept. 20.