KeLeigh Hudson Turns in Hat-Trick as No. 23 Florida Soccer Defeats LSU 5-0

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -Three goals from senior KeLeigh Hudson led the No.
T-23 University of Florida soccer team (11-4-2, 7-2 SEC) to a 5-0 win over Southeastern Conference Western Division leader LSU (10-3-6, 4-2-4
SEC) Sunday afternoon in front of a James G. Pressly crowd of 967.

Florida finishes October with wins in each of its seven matches with six coming by shutout.

“I think today was just a terrific game in terms of a team effort.
There was some unselfish play that led to some great goals and we got contributions from everyone on the bench,” UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. “You can’t ask for more than that. This was a terrific team performance all the way around - one of the best games we’ve played all season.”

Florida scored early in the match, taking advantage of numbers in the box. Stacy Bishop crossed the ball into the center of the box where Ameera Abdullah sent the ball on to KeLeigh Hudson at the far post. She placed her shot from 10 yards into the upper slot of the goal at 4:18.

“Bishop had the ball and got it across. I called leave for Ameera,”
Hudson said. “I was able to get a touch on it before I shot it but my shot was kind of out there so I had to slide to get a shot on goal.”

Later in the half, KeLeigh Hudson was again involved in the Gator scoring, this time delivering the corner kick that Ashlee Elliott headed into the upper corner of the near post. The goal was her second of the season and first since opening UF’s scoring versus USF on Sept. 7. It was the second score off a corner kick for the Gators in the last four matches. Sunday’s score by Elliott was predicted pre-match by Burleigh.

“A few hours before the game, Becky (Burleigh) told me I was going to get a header. I didn’t know how it was going to come, but in practice, I’ve been going front post all the time. So I thought ‘Let me go try this,’” Elliott said. “KeLeigh gave a beautiful ball and I got my big head on it.”

KeLeigh Hudson added two goals within a minute and a half of the second half for her first collegiate hat-trick and the first for the Gators this season. The first goal of the second half started when Shana Hudson brought the ball down the right side and sent it to Elliott in the box.
She turned and touched the ball to KeLeigh Hudson on the left side of the box, who placed the ball in the far post corner from five yards at 62:39. She earned the hat-trick at 64:11, when Abdullah crossed the ball in the box. Bishop let the ball go by her in the middle of the box where it ended up with KeLeigh Hudson. She placed the 12-yard shot in the upper slot to move her into a tie for first with teammate Ashley Harris with seven Gator goals each in 2007.

“On the second goal, I saw Elliott with that turn and that the defender came cheating over on her. So I slid in to the right of the defender and put it in,” Hudson said. “(On the final goal) I asked Bishop to leave it. I took a touch and finished it back post.”

The three goals was the first by a Gator player since Bishop turned in three versus Jacksonville on Sept. 10, 2006.

“It’s a great feeling. I can’t remember my last one - probably in high school sometime. I can’t even remember back that far it’s been so long,” Hudson said. “I was just trying to get the goals for the team - it wasn’t about getting a hat trick. It was just getting goals so we can get the final result.”

Florida’s fifth goal started when the Gators were awarded a free kick
35 yards above the LSU goal. Lauren Hyde sent the ball in, but LSU’s goalkeeper Jackie Moseley, who just entered the match at 71:23, couldn’t control the ball. Daniela Sanchez took advantage of the opportunity to place the three-yard shot in at 72:08 for her first goal of the season.

“Lauren kicked a great ball, which she always does. I just followed it. The goalkeeper bobbled it and I just saw the open goal and kicked it in,” Sanchez said. “It was a great ball from Lauren, which pretty much set it up.”

Next up, the Gators play host to South Carolina (13-4-2, 5-3-2 SEC) on Friday, Nov. 2. The Gamecocks defeated Arkansas 1-0 in their regular-season home finale on Sunday. Due to Gator Growl, match time for the UF-USC match is a bit earlier than a normal Friday time, with start time set for 6 p.m. at Pressly Stadium. Match statistics plus streaming audio and video of the UF-USC match can be found on www.GatorZone.com.

Scoring Summary: 1st 2nd Final
LSU 0 0 0
Florida 2 3 5

Scoring:
UF: KeLeigh Hudson (Ameera Abdullah, Stacy Bishop) 4:18
UF: Ashlee Elliott (KeLeigh Hudson) 22:54
UF: KeLeigh Hudson (Elliott, Shana Hudson) 62:39
UF: KeLeigh Hudson (Abdullah) 64:11
UF: Daniela Sanchez (Lauren Hyde) 72:08

Goalkeepers:
Minutes Saves GA
LSU Valerie Vogler 71:23 4 4
Jackie Moseley 18:37 2 1
Florida Meghan Berlingo 45:00 0 0
Katie Fraine 45:00 3 0

Statistical Summary: LSU UF
Shots 5 17
Shot on goal 3 11
Saves 6 3
Corner Kicks 3 6
Fouls 8 10
Offside 1 0