Florida Soccer Ends Season with 1-0 Loss at Southern California in NCAA Round of 16

11/24/07

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- No. 3 seeded Florida soccer team (17-5-3, 9-2
SEC) saw its season come to an end with a 1-0 loss to No. 2 seeded Southern California (17-3-2, 6-2-1 Pac 10) Saturday evening in front of a Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum crowd of 1,469.

The Trojans now face West Virginia (18-4-2, 9-1-1 Big East) in next weekend’s NCAA Quarterfinal Round. West Virginia upset No. 1 seeded Penn State 1-0 Saturday afternoon in State College, Pa. The date and site of that match will be announced later this weekend by the NCAA Soccer Committee.

Florida found itself trailing for the first time since Sept. 30 when the Trojans scored off a free kick early in the second half. Ashley Nick sent the ball into the box, where Kasey Johnson headed it in untouched into the far post corner for her first goal of the season.

The loss ends Florida’s 14-match unbeaten streak. Florida’s last loss came Sept. 30 at Tennessee (2-0).

The Gators had trouble making that needed final pass in the box throughout the match. One of the best chances of the match came in the 79th minute when Ameera Abdullah ran onto a left side ball with space in front of her. She brought the ball into the ball, but her 10-yard shot was saved out by Kristin Olsen for a corner kick. Abullah served up the consequent corner, but the shot by Daniela Sanchez was blocked.

“That was a nice goal that USC scored off the set piece,” UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. “In terms of our play, I thought we were a little bit out of our rhythm in terms of completing passes in the final third.
The first two-thirds (of the field) we were okay, but we struggled some in the final third. USC played very physically and I thought they did a good job defensively getting a head on or a foot on balls to clear them out when we were getting into the final third. The keeper came up big on Ameera’s shot. Congratulations to USC – they played a good match. ”

Florida ends its season with a 17-5-3 overall record. The Gators claimed both the Southeastern Conference and SEC Tournament titles in 2007. It was the eighth SEC title in Florida’s 13-year history and the eighth tournament title. The Gators made their 11th NCAA Tournament title in 2007, reaching the Round of 16 for the seventh time.

Scoring Summary: 1st 2nd Final
Florida 0 0 0
Southern California 0 1 1

Scoring:
USC: Kasey Johnson (Ashley Nick) 47:37


Goalkeepers:
Minutes Saves GA
Florida Meghan Berlingo 45:00 2 0
Katie Fraine 45:00 1 1
USC Kristin Olsen 90:00 4 0

Statistical Summary: UF USC
Shots 6 16
Shot on goal 4 4
Saves 3 4
Corner Kicks 3 5
Fouls 13 18