Tonight, the ninth ranked Florida soccer team will begin its weekend with a road match against Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt enters the match with a record of 5-4-1, while the Gators are 7-2. Despite a 23-2-1 all time series advantage, head coach Becky Burleigh and the Gators will need a strong team effort to take down the Commodores. In last year’s regular season finale, the Gators capped off
SEC play with a 6-1 victory over Vanderbilt. The Gators have had impressive offensive performances in their last outings, scoring a total of 10 goals in matches against Ole Miss and FIU last weekend. If statistics are any indication of tonight’s match up, the Gators will likely score multiple goals while shutting Vanderbilt out defensively. Look for a big game out of Florida’s junior forward Savannah Jordan, who has scored 10 goals through nine games. Jordan scored her 50th career goal last weekend, becoming the second fastest Gator to reach such heights. “I think we ended up having maybe seven or eight shots on goal and six of them scored. So that’s a pretty efficient rate, that’s not normal – and I think Savannah kind of epitomizes that,” Gator coach Becky Burleigh said about her star forward. “She definitely puts away the chances she has.” Vanderbilt and Florida both lost to Texas A&M earlier this season, exposing weaknesses for both teams. However, if the Gators open up with a strong offensive performance, keeping the lead shouldn’t be a problem against the struggling Commodores. This weekend’s action will continue on Sunday when the Gators go on the road against Auburn. “Each game provides a different challenge,” Burleigh explained. “Like these two games this weekend…it’s two games on the road against two quality opponents, two SEC opponents.” If the Gators can keep their composure and play with discipline on the road, this weekend could prove to be an important factor in their SEC standing. Sound from this story can be found below: Burleigh previews weekend.