Gators soccer prepares to take on East Carolina

The University of Florida soccer team will travel to Greenville, North Carolina, to take on the East Carolina Pirates on Sept. 11.

Florida (2-4) and East Carolina (4-2-1) have a short two-game history, facing off in 1995 and 2003. The Gators walked away victorious from both of these games, 7-0 and 2-1, respectively. The Sept. 11 matchup marks the first time in program history the Gators will travel to the Pirates’ home field.

Florida is coming off a 5-0 loss against the defending NCAA champions, Florida State University. The Gators were only able to get three shots off compared to the Seminoles’ 19. Two of those shots came in the final six minutes of the game.

One of Florida State’s goals was an own goal by freshman defender Njeri Butts, caused by Florida’s inability to clear the ball out of the box.

Heading into Sunday’s game, East Carolina is coming off a 2-1 win against George Mason University, extending their unbeaten streak to five games.

The Pirates game back from a 1-0 deficit, with Carsen Parker scoring two unanswered goals to secure the victory.

https://twitter.com/GatorsSoccer/status/1568249339558121475

After this result, the Pirates will have only two days to rest and prepare before taking on the Gators.

On the other hand, the Gators will ultimately have a week of rest going into this weekend’s matchup, which they will look to use to their advantage.

Following their loss against FSU, head coach Samantha Bohon said they had several players unavailable to play.

“We need to get healthy, first and foremost, and just kind of regroup a little bit,” she said.

Going forward, Bohon said they will take what they can learn from their 5-0 loss into their game against ECU. The match is scheduled for noon.