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It was a tough night for the Gators after being defeated 3-1 by Alabama. Alabama brought their stuff and Florida just couldn’t handle it.

Right off the bat, Alabama was putting the pressure on. They had five shots and three corner kicks before the 12 minute mark. Two of them forced saves from Florida goalkeeper, Alexa Goldberg. It was full throttle for the home team as they controlled every single aspect of the match. Florida didn’t have an answer for any of the pressure brought by the Crimson Tide. Alabama earned their sixth corner 29 seconds after 12 minutes.

It took the Gators around six minutes to flip the theme of the match so far. They earned themselves a corner kick, but nothing came from it. After the corner, Alabama continued their pressure.

Alabama fired off three more shots. The most notable, a shot by Kate Henderson hit the woodwork and prevented the Tide from going up a goal. It felt like it was only a matter of time before Florida found themselves in a deficit.

That deficit came, but not on the scoresheet. Florida center back, Daviana Vaka sees red as her challenge didn’t seem ft for referee, Corey Rockwell. The Gators have to play the next 78 minutes with 10 ladies.

After the red card, Alabama was controlling the pace of the game easily. After a few minutes of back and forth play, Alabama found some more shots and Goldberg had to keep her line clean with a save on of them. This led to a Alabama corner.

The corner kick is taken and after a few bounces and ricochets, Alabama is flagged offsides.

Less than a minute later, Alabama wins back possession. A pass by Cameron Silva to Melina Rebimbas and then to Nedya Sawan who puts the ball in the back of the net convincingly to put the Tide up 1-0 with five minutes left to play in the first half.

At the end of the half, the Gators had one shot, one corner, and three saves. Alabama finished the half with 11 shots, 6 corners, and 1 goal. It was a very rough half for the Gators and they had a tough half coming up as well.

The second half began and it was all Alabama. Florida came out aggressive and hungry for a goal, but the Tide just shut it down. They were playing around the Gators and shutting down any moves they had.

Three minutes into the second half, Nadia Ramadan dealt a pass to Gianna Paul who keeps her feet composed and tucks the ball past Goldberg. Paul doubled Alabama’s lead and the Tide were rolling.

The goals didn’t stop there. About six minutes later, Nadia Ramadan played another threatening pass; this time to Itala Gemelli, who puts the ball into the net for Alabama’s third goal. It was a deep deficit for the Gators, who were missing their veteran on the defensive line.

Alabama controlled the pace for the rest of the half. Florida still had some fight left in them.

Njeri Butts finds Delaney Tauzel in the 84th minute to give the Gators a sign of life. A sweet finish by Tauzel brings the deficit to two with five minutes left. The Gators found some juice later in the half and are trying to flip the tide.

Unfortunately for Florida, that goal was all they were getting as Alabama kept a very composed ending to the match. Florida ruined the clean sheet, but that was all they were getting. It was all Alabama this Thursday.

The final game stats for Florida were 4 shots, 1 goal, 5 saves, and 3 corners. For Alabama, they had 20 shots, 3 goals, 0 saves, and 7 corners.

It was a day to forget for the Gators who are now 1-5-2 and a great day to remember for Alabama as they improve to 2-2-5 record. The next match for the Gators is home in Gainesville against Oklahoma who are 1-6-1. It should be a game the Gators can win to get some late season results.