Florida Soccer Seeks Revenge in SEC Tournament Opener
If it’s true that revenge is a dish best served cold, Florida soccer is carrying an ice-cold platter of six consecutive losses against its upcoming first-round opponent in the SEC tournament.
It’s a winless streak that stretches eight years, and the Gators have the opportunity to snap it tonight under first-year coach Nick Zimmerman.
No. 12 seed Florida (6-6-5, 2-4-4 SEC) faces No. 5-seed Arkansas (7-5-4, 5-2-3) at 8 p.m. ET Sunday to kick off its SEC tournament campaign at Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex in Pensacola. The Gators earned the last spot in the tournament on Nov. 1 after a 1-1 draw against Georgia. The winner of the match plays Tuesday night against No. 4 seed Kentucky (9-5-3, 5-2-3), which received a first-round bye.
“Everyone’s record [is] zero and zero,” Zimmerman said. “It’s a privilege to get a chance to play again in November.”
Florida and Arkansas meet for the second time this season. Last time out on Oct. 18, it was heartbreak for Florida in Fayetteville. Katie Johnston opened the scoring for the Gators, but Arkansas equalized shortly into the second half. The match stayed tied until MacKenzie Gwin scored the game-winning goal with six seconds to go, sealing the comeback for the Razorbacks.
The stakes this time around are win-or-go-home, but recent history doesn’t favor Florida in this scenario. The Gators were cut short of the 2019 SEC Tournament final by the Razorbacks after a 3-1 defeat in Orange Beach, Alabama. However, Florida is 5-2 against Arkansas in SEC tournament matches all-time.
Zimmerman has flipped this script before. Last season, his Mississippi State team lost 4-2 at Arkansas in October, then met the top-seeded Razorbacks in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals at the same Pensacola complex. The eighth-seeded Bulldogs won 2-1, scoring both goals from outside the box, to knock Arkansas out. Zimmerman said the tournament setting changes things.
“Having played Arkansas in the past, not just this year, but just in the past, the tournament’s a different animal,” he said.
Both teams enter Sunday’s match with positive and negative trends.
Zoe Main has continued to be a focal point of Florida’s attack heading into the postseason. The only Gator to start every match, Main leads the Gators in assists (7) and points (19, a career high). The senior forward recorded a goal contribution in Florida’s last three matches, including the assist on Johnston’s opener at Arkansas. Main delivered the ticket-punching goal in Florida’s draw against Georgia.
Main earned postseason SEC honors alongside her former Mississippi State teammate Adia Symmonds and freshman defender Lael Hill. Main and Symmonds were named to the All-SEC Second Team and Hill was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
However, Florida hasn’t won since upsetting then-No. 5 Alabama on Oct. 8. The Gators suffered a lopsided defeat at No. 1-seed Vanderbilt, followed by the last-second loss at Arkansas and back-to-back draws at home to finish the regular season. Florida didn’t score a second-half goal in that stretch.
Zimmerman sees a team closer than its record shows. He said the staff showed players Thursday that their expected points are “so much higher” than their place in the table.
“We’re tops in so many metrics that matter to us, which means we’re so, so close,” he said.
Arkansas entered its regular-season finale on a three-match winning streak and a seven-match unbeaten run. Then the Razorbacks stumbled. Kentucky defeated Arkansas 3-0 and outshot it 16-7. The loss dropped Arkansas out of the top four on a tiebreaker for the first time since 2017.
Arkansas goalkeeper Keegan Smith has been one of the league’s busiest, ranking third in SEC play with 3.9 saves per game. She plays behind Second Team All-SEC defender Bella Field and Third Team All-SEC defender Aniyah Nurse-Whyte.
Senior midfielder Zoe Susi leads the Razorbacks in points (13) and is tied for most goals (5) with Field.
Zimmerman expects Arkansas to press high, and said beating that pressure will take courage.
“There’s going to be moments where … we’re going to make mistakes, and that’s part of it,” he said.
The rematch could come down to set pieces. Arkansas led the SEC with 7.5 corners per game in conference play, and its equalizer in October came when Kyndal Ewertz redirected a Madden McDonald corner. Freshman defender Carlota Martins has become an offensive and defensive target on Florida’s set pieces.
“She gets on the end of almost everything,” Zimmerman said.
The bigger gap is in goal. Arkansas’ keepers saved 78.7% of shots in SEC play, compared with 64.3% for Florida. Who starts in net for the Gators could be one of Sunday’s biggest factors. Zimmerman said the starting decision is “day by day,” but that redshirt junior Paloma Peña is “in a really good rhythm” and “certainly demonstrated that she wants the moment.”
The stakes stretch beyond Pensacola. The SEC tournament champion earns an automatic NCAA Tournament bid, while 33 at-large spots go to teams picked by a selection committee that leans on the Rating Percentage Index (RPI), a formula weighing a team’s record against its schedule strength.
Florida sits at No. 57, the edge of the historical at-large bubble, according to RPI analyst Chris Thomas’ rankings through Nov. 1. Arkansas, at No. 50 after its loss at Kentucky, isn’t safe either, making Sunday a pivotal match for both teams. The NCAA Tournament field is announced Nov. 16.
Three weeks ago, Florida was six seconds away from a road draw at Arkansas. Tonight on the SEC Network, the Gators get at least 90 more minutes to change how that story ends.
“We’re going there for a mission,” Zimmerman said. “And the mission is to go and compete at the highest level.”
Category: Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Soccer
