Gators Host William & Mary In NCAA Second Round

The No 2 seed Florida Gator soccer team host William and Mary Friday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Florida advanced to the second round with a 1-0 win over Western Michigan last Saturday. The only goal of the match came in the first few minutes of the second half. Freshman Briana Solis brought the ball up the pitch before passing it to Savannah Jordan at the 18-yard box. Jordan found the back of the net with a left-footed shot from seventeen yards out for her 22^nd goal of the season. This is the 15^th time the Gators have advanced to the second round in their 19 postseason appearances.

Jordan’s goal tied her season high in goals scored that she set as a freshman in 2013. She is second in the nation in goals and points and leads the SEC in both those categories.

Despite the victory Florida head coach Becky Burleigh feels her team can still improve this late in the season especially when it comes to keeping their composure in the second half.

William & Mary advanced to the second round after a thriller in the first round. After a scoreless overtime the Tribe went to PK’S with UCF. They defeated the Knights with a 3-1 PK advantage for their first second round appearance since 2008.

William & Mary are led by longtime coach John Daly. Daly has been with the Tribe for 29 seasons and has led them to the NCAA tournament 21 times during his tenure. Gator head coach Becky Burleigh says that Daly has a lot of experience and is a very smart guy so he is team will be well prepared.

Match time from Donald R. Dizney stadium is set for 7 p.m. but you can tune into ESPN Gainesville 95.3/850 to listen to Taylor Burke and Joel Sebastianelli’s live call of the match.