Gator soccer team meets up. Photo by: Goggle Images.

UF Soccer: Gators Beat Vanderbilt on the Road

Thanks to a great offensive performance the Florida Gator soccer team beat the Vanderbilt Commodores 3-0 on Sunday afternoon at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex.

The Gators had a good start and were the dominating team during the first minutes. The team of head coach Becky Burleigh had most of the possession and created some chances before they scored the first goal after just eight minutes. Mayra Pelayo hit a perfect cross from the left side into the box and found Deanne Rose. Vanderbilt’s defense left Rose open and the forward had enough time to control the ball and sent it in the far post netting for the 1-0 lead.

Vanderbilt had their first scoring opportunity after 21 minutes when Olivia Simmons sent a long throw-in into the box. But Stephanie Amack’s header was parried by UF’s goalkeeper Kaylan Marckese.

In the second half Deanne Rose added another goal to extend the lead to 2-0. After a Vanderbilt corner, Rose got the ball deep in the Gators’ half. She could not be stopped by three defenders and placed the ball into the far corner from 14 yards. It was her third double-goal effort of the last three matches. Rose also was involved in the third goal as she was fouled by the Vanderbilt goalkeeper inside the box and drew a penalty for the Gators. Gabby Seiler successfully scored the third goal in the 77th minute of the game.

Gator coach Becky Burleigh was very happy with Rose’s performance. “Deanne was a lot for Vanderbilt to handle. She created the penalty, scored two goals and had a couple more opportunities,” she said.

https://twitter.com/GatorsSoccer/status/917107102707044353

Gators Rank Tied Second in the SEC

Beating the Commodores, Florida extended its winning streak to four and is now 11-2 overall and 5-1 in the SEC. The Gators now have 15 points and moved up to a tie for second second place in the SEC standings. South Carolina is leading the conference with 18 points. Winning the first match up with Vanderbilt since 2015 also helped the Gators to climb one spot in the United Soccer Coaches poll. Florida now ranks ninth.

Up Next

Up next is a match against Florida State University on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the James G. Pressly Stadium in Gainesville.

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