Oct. 11, 2009
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Auburn could not find a way to solve the Florida attack or find enough seams in the midfield and Florida's defensive third to score a goal of its' own, falling 4-0 to No. 14 Florida on Sunday in Gainesville. The loss dropped Auburn to 5-6-3, 2-4-0 SEC while Florida is 10-4-1, 4-1-1 SEC.
"We were unfortunate to give up the counter attack in the first half because we defended very well. We started out the second half, made some good adjustments and the girls really stepped up and we controlled the second half for quite a long time," Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. "I was a little disappointed in how we responded to the second goal. Florida is a great team and it is unfortunate the loss was as big as it was because it shouldn't have been. This isn't a bad loss because of how good Florida is."
Florida took a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute as Angela Napolitano scored her first goal of the season, racing through the defensive backline to catch up to a lead pass from Erika Tymrak. Napolitano took one touch and then fired a shot off to Auburn goalkeeper Amy Howard's right, sneaking it just inside the post to give Florida the early advantage.
Auburn was held without a shot in the first half but was awarded a corner while Florida took eight shots and three corners, though only two shots went on frame resulting in the score and a Howard save.
Monica Afanador was able to register Auburn's first shot of the match just over a minute after halftime, taking a long-range chance that Florida goalkeeper Katie Fraine easily stopped.
Auburn's next scoring chance wouldn't come until the 69th minute when Jessica Rightmer's one-timer from outside the six was deflected over the crossbar by a Florida defender for an Auburn corner. Heather Havron's resulting serve found the head of Caitlin King at the far post but her attempt went wide of the net.
Tymrak put Florida up 2-0 as she collected a loose ball at the top of the circle and fired in her fifth goal of the season with 13 minutes left. Lauren Hyde then solidified the outcome with a goal on a direct kick following an Auburn foul at almost the same spot that Tymrak scored from to give Florida a three-goal advantage with six minutes left.
McKenzie Barney's third goal of the season with time expiring provided the final four-goal margin.
Howard finished the match with three saves to up her season total to 80.
Auburn was limited to just four shots in the match.
Auburn returns home for its next two matches, playing host to Vanderbilt on Friday, Oct. 11 at 7:30pm CT, and Kentucky at 1pm on Sunday, Oct. 13.