No.5 Florida Soccer Opens Up SEC Play Thursday

On Sunday when the Gators came together, that is when they decided that they were going to control the game. Then the goals started coming in and Florida defeated the Oklahoma State Cowgirls in Stillwater, OK.

Now up next for their first opponent in the SEC are the Kentucky Wildcats. The Orange and Blue are the top team in the SEC and travel to Lexington to face the Big Blue Nation on Thursday.

Although the Gators are ranked fifth in the NSCAA Coaches’ poll and Kentucky is unranked, the Gators have had trouble facing UK. Head Florida soccer coach Becky Burleigh is aware of how tough this team is. The last time the Gators faced Kentucky, which was last season, resulted in a tie game.

The Gators have fifteen sophomores and thirteen freshmen this year, making it a young team. Coach Burleigh is glad that there is a good enough team chemistry to have the older players mentor the younger players and the younger players to trust and listen to the older ones.

Burleigh is excited to head into SEC play, especially with the fact that SEC women’s soccer has been very strong this year. Four SEC teams are ranked in the top 25 in the country. Arkansas has defeated a highly ranked ranked Duke team and South Carolina defeated a top-five Clemson squad all leading in to SEC play.

The Orange and Blue face the Wildcats on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Lexington and you can get coverage of the Gators on the SEC Network and on ESPN Gainesville 95.3 FM.

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