By: Jose Sanchez

            On Friday, the No. 1 regional seed Florida Gators opened NCAA action with a 3-0 victory over the FGCU Eagles.

            The Gators played with a 3-5-2 lineup, in which Mayra Pelayo and Julia Lester played as the wide midfielders. They used their quickness and dribbling abilities to run the offense through the wings. That let the interior midfielders, Samantha Chung and Briana Solis to have more space and time to make decisions and deliver the ball to the strikers.

            Florida’s quick ball-recovery was a big plus, as the high-pressing by Lester and Chung on one side and Pelayo and Solis on the other slowed the Eagles as they tried to drive the ball through the interiors. Rachelle Smith and Kristen Cardano went wide to play as fullbacks while Dougherty Howard went back to help Gabby Seiler on defense.

            The last 25 minutes of the first half were dominated by the Gators. A harmonious possession of the ball in which players like Sarah Troccoli, Chung and Dougherty Howard were the compasses on offense. Well-rounded performances full of: one-touch passes, triangles, short and long diagonals, double marking after losing the ball, etc. The only thing missing was the goal. A shot from long distance by Chung and a shot off the dribble inside the box by Betsy Middleton were the biggest goal chances for the Gators in the first 45 minutes.

            Florida started to have problems in the defensive transitions early in the second half. Tabby Tindell and Tori Dorr created good chances when driving the ball through counter-attacks. But the Gators broke through in the 66th minute thanks to a fantastic goal by Dougherty Howard, who received a through assist by Chung. She waited for the goalkeeper to go after her and scored with a finesse shot. After that, it was a Gator monologue. Jordan and Pelayo started to create more chances through the left wing.

            In the 78th minute, Lester added another one after being wide open to drive the ball diagonally through the interior and scored the second goal for the Gators. Five minutes later, Jordan turned in the final goal, scoring her 16^th goal of the season after she received inside the area of a long-pass diagonal by Pelayo.

            The Gators will play the Wisconsin Badgers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at home on Friday, at 7 p.m.

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