The Georgia State Panthers hosted the Florida Gators tonight in an extremely convincing 2-0 victory for the Gators. This was the first meeting in history between the two programs.
The first half began, and both teams were looking to get into their rhythm early. After a heavy touch by a GSU midfielder, Florida took its first possession of the game. Florida maintained possession for a short time before turning the ball over with a bad pass that went out of play.
Florida continued to maintain pressure through the first three minutes of the match and was rewarded with an early opportunity. Ryleigh Acosta dribbled past the GSU right back and took a low shot that was swallowed up by the GSU goalie, Jaddah Foos. Florida’s first shot on goal.
GSU continued to struggle with the pressure of the Gators. The Panthers weren’t able to get out of their own half. An early foul gave Florida a set-piece opportunity in a dangerous position. The cross ended up being claimed by the Panthers goalkeeper.
The Panthers found some momentum as a beautiful lob pass is delivered across the pitch to the right winger, Sunniyah Tucker, who sends a cross into the 18-yard box.The cross is ultimately claimed by the Florida keeper, Jayden Emmanuel
Florida continued their first half dominance with more shots and corner kicks. Foos was kept busy due to the constant pressure by Florida which led to bad passes resulting in threatening throw-ins and corner kicks. The pressure gave Florida’s Delaney Tauzel a great look from 25 yards out, who hit it with power and curve, but Foos made a save to keep the score level.
In the 21st minute, Florida gets their first real opportunity to open the scoring. Forward, Lena Bailey, intercepted the ball after a heavy touch from a GSU defender. She took a touch with the outside of her right foot, sitting down Foos, but sailed her shot high. Delaney Tellex was wide open on her right if Bailey decided to square it, but ultimately the Gators found themselves a few feet high of getting ahead.
After the scare on the defensive end of the pitch, the Panthers found a possible opportunity to make something happen. Tucker played an incisive pass that dissected the Florida back line but the lineswoman raised her flag for offsides.
The Gators took the offsides seriously as the raised flag possibly saved them from being a goal down. Njeri Butts dribbled with conviction through the midfield, elusively avoiding the GSU midfielders. Butts sent a cutback pass that was begging to be hit into the net and the ball gets its wish. Bailey hit it first time and finished it sweetly into the top-left corner; easily beating Foos to bring the Gators their first goal of the fixture.
Florida took the opportunity to make some substitutions after the goal.
It didn’t take long for GSU to apply pressure to the Florida back line. The Panthers used beautiful ball movement to move down the pitch. Nifty little passes through the midfield ended up giving Aaliyah Faddoul an opportunity to deliver a dangerous cross into the box. Emmanuel claims the cross emphatically with great awareness to get the ball before it turned into something threatening.
The Panthers continued their push for the equalizer as Faddoul dribbled and plays what could have been a lethal pass to put her striker through on goal. However, a late step by Florida center back, Daviana Vaka, stopped the threatening pass. The ball gets deflected right to the winger, who overpowered her cross for a Florida goal kick.
Florida maintained the majority of the possession through the end of the first half protecting their one goal lead. The referee blew her whistle for halftime. The Gators dominated the first half with 10 shots, 4 shots on goal, 6 corners. The Panthers only had one shot the entire half, no corners earned, and was called offsides on two occasions.
The second half began and the Panthers came out firing. They instantly apply a new level of intensity that was missing through the entire first half. A delicious through ball from Elena Diaz, a product from the Atletico Madrid academy, found Tucker who took an explosive touch into a shot that was blocked to earn the Panthers their first corner of the game.
Florida began to settle into the second half with some great strings of passes. The Florida midfield drove the Gators into the final third but the shot was nowhere close to the goal. A hopeful look into the Gators objective of getting a brace for themselves.
Both, Florida and Georgia State, took their time and built their rhythm by maintaining possession and minimizing turnovers. Elena Diaz received a pass and with incredible vision, plays a gorgeous through ball to Tucker, who crosses it to her wide open teammate, Emily Glenn, who was storming into the box. Tucker’s cross isn’t the best which forced Green to take a touch outside and shoot the ball right into the Florida keeper.
The Panthers were more aggressive and controlled most of the possession at this point of the second half. Florida went through a period of turnovers and bad passes. The Panthers looked even more threatening as the time ticked down.
With 25:52 left in the second half, Vaka plays a low-driven pass right into the feet of Vera Blom. Blom controls the pass extremely well, collects her feet, and wraps her foot around the ball. The ball begins to curve and dip simultaneously as it pierces through the air. Foos extends her right hand as much as she can, but the ball ultimately beats her, bounces off the bottom of the crossbar, and finds its way into the back of the net. An absolute world-class strike from Blom doubled the Gators’ lead.
Facing a two-goal deficit, the Panthers were more aggressive than ever. With 20:35 left in the match, the Panthers got their best opportunity yet to get on the score sheet. An extremely dangerous cross trickled through many Florida defenders as it looked for a Panthers player to apply the final touch for a probable goal. One Panther missed it, the other couldn’t reach it, and the ball ultimately found itself crossing the byline for a Florida goal kick.
The Gators instantly respond with 20:00 left with a cross of their own. Butts delivered a beautiful pass that met Bailey’s head who placed it to the left side of the goal. Foos extended to the fullest and just pushed the ball wide of the post to keep her Panthers alive with a world class save.
GSU continued to struggle with offsides as they were called for their sixth infraction. The Florida back four stayed composed and organized frustrating the GSU attackers. The Florida back four maintained possession throughout majority of the second half and kept their goaltender with not much to do.
At the 8:30 mark, the match was delayed due to lightning in the Atlanta area. It resumed after a 30-minute wait. The players had 10 minutes to warm up before play continued.
The Gators had one job with the remaining time: to keep their clean sheet. The Panthers were very aggressive coming out of the delay, but the Gators weathered the storm and maintained most of the possession for the remainder of the match.
The referee blew the final whistle, and the Gators remain undefeated heading into their match on Sunday against Towson. The Gators are now 2-0-2 and look to continue their momentum with another win away from home. The Panthers, with a record of 0-2-1, will look to secure their first win against Western Carolina on Sunday, September 1.
With Florida State coming to Gainesville on September 8, it is crucial for the Gators to win against Towson. If they play with the same composure and aggressiveness they displayed Thursday, the Gators will be a force to be reckoned with throughout the season.
ChompTalk.com 
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