Florida Soccer Falls 2-0 to No. 19 UCF

Florida soccer had a tough match up Thursday night as they couldn’t quite pull through to win against number 19 UCF. Florida had many opportunities with 12 shots but the finishing touch just wasn’t there last night and the Gators fell in the contest 2-0.

First Half

UCF had a strong start in the first half by scoring both of their two goals. The first goal happened in the 14th minute made by Trescott Shamlou and the final score came in the 40th minute when Darya Rajaee kicked the ball past Alexa Goldberg with a penalty kick.

Florida was aggressive on the offensive end with nine shots, but was not able to find the back of the net with any of them. Kouri Peace came out strong in the beginning with two shots, but was substituted out with Julianne Leskauskas in the 22nd minute. Nicole Vernis had three shots with one of them being saved by UCF’s goalie Caroline DeLisle in the 13th minute.

https://twitter.com/GatorsSoccer/status/1431042725814562822

Second Half

Florida tried to battle back on three shots, but was not able to find the net. Alivia Gonzalez, Taylor Baksay, and Kouri Peace all contributed in the second half with shots on goal and UCF received two yellow cards, one in the 70th minute on Ellie Moreno and another in the 86th minute on Mallory Olsson.  Gator coach Tony Amato discussed his team getting chances to score but not cashing in.

“When we started the second half, I thought we got back in the game and started to create some chances,” Amato said. “You’ve got to finish one of those and the game changes. We were putting them under enough pressure and creating chances. The final ball or the final shot, it wasn’t there for us. We’re going to have to work on that.”

Final here at the Diz

Goals:
13:15 UCF Trescott Shamlou
40:49 UCF Darya Rajaee (PK)

Gators home Sunday at 1pm vs Miami. See you there!

Presented by @WellsFargo | #GoGators pic.twitter.com/6OKlkYzavt

— Gators Soccer (@GatorsSoccer) August 27, 2021

Looking Ahead

Florida is now 0-2-1 and will be finishing a three-match homestand Sunday as they host Miami at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium at 1pm.