The Gators and the Sooners faced off Sunday in what was a gritty, physical, and passionate game. The Gators are desperate for a result as the past few games have been disappointing. The Sooners look to continue their winning ways after defeating Ole Miss 4-1 on Oct. 23. This is Oklahoma’s last regular season game so they’ll look to head into the post-season with a win today. As for the Gators, it’s a pride match as they aren’t likely to make the SEC tournament as their season hasn’t been as hopeful as they thought.
The first 5 minutes of the match were dominated by Florida as Oklahoma struggled to break through their possession. Florida was playing free-flowing, articulate soccer and the Sooners didn’t have any idea how to stop it.
Despite the dominance from Florida, with 34:36 left in the first half, Oklahoma struck first.
Ella Pappas kept it composed and played a lethal cut-back pass across the box. Her pass found Hadley Murell who put it past Alexa Goldberg to bring the Sooners up a goal. It was a complete surprise due to the tendencies of the match up until that point.
The Gators got back into their game despite being a goal down. The next set of minutes were 95% Gators as Oklahoma only had possession if Florida cleared the ball from their half.
Florida looked very threatening due to the effort from Lena Bailey who was immense during this period of play. She was winning Florida possession and applying offensive pressure that gave the Sooners a tough time defensively.
After a handball at the edge of the 18-yard box, the Sooners had a chance at goal from the free kick. The shot was the least bit of threatening and the Gators swiftly tried to capitalize on a counter attack, but the Sooners handled their business.
The game started to become a stalemate as the half grew older. Both teams weren’t really applying pressure offensively and majority of the play was within the middle of pitch. Florida looked like the team with the better chances and movements, but Oklahoma still had the lead.
Florida found themselves around 25 yards away with a set piece on the right hand side of the box. After a routine, Florida had the opportunity for a strike but the ball sailed high and the opportunity was missed.
Florida saw one last opportunity off of a counter attack as Butts was driving down the field. A great tackle by a Sooner defender stops the move.
The half ended 1-0 in favor of the Sooners. It was a half owned by Florida with a moment of brilliance from Oklahoma. Unfortunately for Florida, it doesn’t matter how much you dominated in the half when you’re down by one at the end of it.
Interestingly, there were 15 fouls committed in the first half between both teams. This match definitely had a level of physicality to it and both teams aren’t making it easy to get past each other.
The game was still up for grabs, though. Both coaches will probably be delivering very different messages in the locker room at half. It will be surprising if the Gators didn’t come back super aggressive looking for their equalizer.
This was the Gators approach coming out of half time.
“We wanted to play more direct and get more numbers higher up because we anticipated them sitting back a little bit,” said Florida Head Coach, Samatha Bohon.
The second half started and it was Oklahoma taking the game to the Gators. Oklahoma was firing on all cylinders and really giving the Florida defense some trouble. A complete shift from the first half.
Gator Defender, Anna Deleon, had a brilliant goal line clearance to keep the Gators deficit to 1. The pressure from the Sooners in the first five minutes was a reminder to the Gators that they’re trying to score just as much as they are.
The next goal, if one occurs, will likely be the deciding factor in the game as a goal for Oklahoma will make it hard for Florida to climb back and a goal for Florida give them the momentum to win the game. It’s a very tense dilemma in the match and both teams know it.
Florida struggled to get anything going within the first 30 minutes. Oklahoma played shut-down defense and posed an offensive threat at points. The Sooners were in no rush to hurry the pace of play and it was clearly frustrating the Gators.
Oklahoma controlled majority of the half as they were playing as possessive as possible. They were playing keep away from Florida and trying to capitalize on any defensive over commitments.
With 14:16 left in the second half, Florida found their best opportunity of the match. A deflected shot from the goalkeeper almost found its way to the back of the net. A Sooner defender cleared her line at the last moment and conceded a corner.
The last 10 minutes was all Gators as Oklahoma parked the bus. The Sooners were absorbing pressure trying to close out the match and the Gators were hinting for a much needed equalizer.
Florida earned themselves two corners with about four minutes left in the game. Both of them were unsuccessful and the Sooners were back in control.
Oklahoma closed out the game and the Gators fall 1-0 at home. It’s another frustrating loss and the Gators end the week without a point. The Gators are now mathematically out of contention for the SEC tournament, but can ruin Tennessee’s bid to the tournament with a win next Wednesday, Oct 30.
ChompTalk.com 
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