Florida soccer’s opening five games under coach Nick Zimmerman have been a positive rollercoaster of results. A season opening 4-3 loss to UCF, followed by a three-game win streak that featured a 3-1 victory against defending national champions Florida State and ended on a low-scoring draw at Florida Atlantic.
The Gators’ one-win, one-draw result from Week 2 nudged them down to No. 21 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. While still in the Top 25, the Gators are looking to prevent more tallies in the loss column as SEC play approaches.
Florida (3-1-1) returns to Gainesville Thursday against Youngstown State (0-4-1) at Donald R. Dizney Stadium in the first meeting between the two teams.
Youngstown State is coming off a pair of shutout losses, conceding a total of six goals against Eastern Kentucky and Miami (OH). They enter Thursday 0-4 all-time against ranked opponents, with all four defeats coming by at least two goals.
Zimmerman isn’t taking this matchup lightly, however, even against a team Florida has no history with. Youngstown State’s winless record doesn’t tell the whole story, and Florida’s first-year coach made that point clear at practice Wednesday.
“Youngstown [is] extremely well coached. They’ve been in quite a few games where the xG (expected goals) shows they actually created a lot more chances than the opponent,” Zimmerman said. “The record doesn’t really reflect how they’re playing.”
Florida hopes to avoid another slip-up against an unranked opponent. Their draw at FAU left Zimmerman with an important area for improvement: preventing “loud mistakes” that lead to conceding goals.
Zimmerman explained that he and his staff compiled video of every goal Florida has scored and conceded this season – an effort to reinforce their positive attacking moments and find solutions to fixable errors on the field. The Gators plan on translating that standard Thursday against an older, more physical opponent.
“[We’ve] got to be on our game, got to be focused,” Zimmerman said. “Got to do the little things that we continue to keep preaching and do them for 90 minutes.”
Youngstown State serves as a tune-up for Florida’s final non-conference test Sunday against No. 5 Wake Forest, the Gators’ second ranked opponent this season since knocking off No. 3 Florida State on Aug. 23. The Demon Deacons are undefeated through five games, having opened the season by beating No. 16 LSU.
Thursday’s match will celebrate the Gators’ 10-member senior class for Senior Night: Kelsey Smith, Emma Duval, Montelene Dymond, Kyra Taylor, Zoe Main, Jayden Emmanuel, Lena Bailey, Hannah Jibril, Avery Upton and Paris Bice.
“What better way than to go out and put together a performance [the seniors] can remember and all be proud of?” Zimmerman said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to continue to just focus on us and get better at the things we’re working on.”
