Florida Soccer Secures Third Straight Draw, Ties With Kentucky
The Florida soccer team came away with another draw Thursday night after ending its match against the Kentucky Wildcats level at one goal apiece Dizney Stadium.
The Gators (0-2-3) moved up to 12th in the Southeastern Cconference standings and are 4-5-3 overall. The Wildcats dropped to 3-1-1 in the league and 9-3-1 overall.
After three consecutive draws, Florida is still on the hunt for its first win of the SEC season.
Florida scored the first goal of the match when redshirt sophomore Megan Hinnenkamp took the ball in stride and sent in a perfect cross, which connected with the head of redshirt freshmen Addy Hess. The powerful header was too much for freshmen Kentucky goalie Khadijah Cisse.
“Megan Hinnenkamp does what she does best, drove down the side and found me perfectly on my head,” Hess said. “I just executed and headed it into the goal.”
Hess’s goal marked Florida’s first lead in any minute of SEC play this season. The Gators were able to hold strong and take their lead to the locker room at halftime.
Ten minutes into the second-half, the ball bounced around the Gators six-yard box until Kentucky’s senior midfielder Thalia Morisi tucked it home. It was Morisi’s third goal of the season and ties her for most points on Kentucky with six.
Meanwhile, the match lived up to what the SEC is all about — physicality. The teams combined for 33 fouls, with Florida committing 19.
“You have to give Kentucky credit because they sent a lot of numbers forward and really put us under pressure,” said UF coach Samantha Bohon, who described the match as a tale of two halves for the Gators.
“I wish we would’ve played a little better in the second half … we didn’t have much possession.”
Florida next travels to Austin for a match with the Texas Longhorns (3-8-1, 1-4). This will be the fourth matchup all-time between Florida and Texas. The series is tied at (1-1-1).
Kickoff at Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field is set for 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. The game will stream on SEC Network +.
Category: Gators Soccer, SEC, Soccer
