By: Jose Sanchez

            The Florida Gators and the Wisconsin Badgers transformed a cold night in Gainesville into a memorable one. It is a second round match that will certainly be remembered by the players and fans of both teams as the Gators prevailed with a 3-2 double overtime win.

            The Badgers had a great defensive performance in the opening 25 minutes. They deployed a high-pressured positional defense — in a 4-4-2 lineup — denying the Gators to build up plays. From that point on, the Gators started to increase the pace on transition through the wings. The main protagonist was Mayra Pelayo, whose velocity and ball-control on transition challenged the Badger defenders.

            In the 25th minute, there was an offensive sequence that explained pretty well the game plan established by both teams. Rachelle Smith drove the ball to the left wing while dragging rivals with her. That let her find Pelayo, who was behind her. Pelayo sent the ball to Savannah Jordan, who held the ball inside the box before passing it to Sarah Troccoli for the long shot. Caitlyn Clem, Badgers goalkeeper, saved it. The Badgers responded immediately after that play with a three-touch counter attack. Emily Borgmann received the ball in the last third of the pitch. Borgmann beat her rivals in the two-on-one opportunity and shot the ball right on the left post.

            One of the key points for the Gators was the constant switch of positions between Pelayo and Julia Lester. Badger full-backs had problems when marking both players. Especially Pelayo, whose relentless dribbling drives were crucial in the final result of the game.

            The Gators controlled the game for the rest of the first half. They pushed the Badgers deep inside their box by exploiting both wings.

            After eight minutes in the second half, the Gators responded with the first goal of the game. Meggie Dougherty Howard pressured and stole the ball from a Badger defender. Then she cut inside the box and got fouled. She made the penalty without hesitation. The pace of the game started to slow on both sides after Dougherty Howard’s goal. The Badgers tied the game with a penalty kicked by Micaela Powers in the 65^th minute. Eleven minutes later, Micaela Powers scored the second goal for the Badgers after she put back a ball deflected by Kaylan Marckese.

            It did not take too long for the Gators to respond back. Two minutes later, Alexis Tye scored an own goal after she deflected a ball that came from a corner to the wrong way. From that point on, it was all Gators. They reorganized themselves in the attacking transitions and forced the Badgers to play with a five-player backline. Shots started to appear all over the place for the Gators. Troccoli played well as an interior midfielder. She connected the dots in the midfield and used her body to hold the ball to drag rivals. That gave enough spaces to the wingers to dribble past rivals and send crosses to the box. But 90 minutes were not enough for neither team.

            Both teams looked tired in overtime, but the Gators still wanted to be the protagonists of the game. They kept the momentum going in their favor: aggressiveness when recovering the ball and fluency when attacking through the wings. In the 107th minute, Pelayo made two rivals collide between each other with her dribbling skills. That let her find Dougherty Howard with a through pass. Dougherty Howard made the cut through the right wing and sent short cross to Brooke Sharp. The senior forward found herself with enough space inside the box to made the shot right away. It was a déjà vu moment for her; as she also scored the golden goal in the Southeastern Conference Tournament final.

The Gators are back in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. They will face the Auburn Tigers at home on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.

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