Three goals from two Gators led the No. 22 University of Florida soccer team (2-2-1, 0-0 SEC) to a 3-0 win over Florida International (2-2, 0-0 SBC) Sunday evening in front of a James G. Pressly crowd of 1,921.

 

Florida’s first goal started when Kathryn Williamson brought the ball past the middle of the field and sent it to fellow senior All-American Erika Tymrak, located at the top of the attacking third. She brought the ball to a few paces above the 18-yard box and sent it right. The ball rolled past Havana Solaun to fellow sophomore Tessa Andujar making a run from her outside back spot. She caught up to the ball, took a touch and then sent it to Solaun, who scored from 15 yards to the far post corner at 12:30.

 

A trio of seniors combined on the Gators’ second goal. A ball from Jo Dragotta, located at midfield, found Tymrak in stride as she made a slanted run. She took a couple of touches and sent it forward to McKenzie Barney, who was alone at the top of the box. Barney one-touched it into the goal at 26:45 for her first score of the season.

 

The two also combined on Florida’s golden goal versus then No. 2 Duke a week ago in Chapel Hill, N.C., with Tymrak getting the goal off the pass from Barney. The combination play comes easily when Tymrak is involved, Barney said.

 

“It’s hard not to have chemistry with Tymrak. She is one of the most selfless players that I have ever played with,” Barney said. “She is that girl that will have an open net and pass it to you so that you could put it in the back.”

 

Solaun scored her second goal of the evening at 57:40, placing in a ball from senior Holly King. A glance between the pair led to the score.

 

“Holly had the ball and she was dribbling down. I pulled out wide and we made eye contact. She saw the gap and played me through and called Annie Speese off of it,” Solaun said. “She couldn’t have played a more perfect pass. It was perfectly weighted and was in the right area. She really just set me up for a good finish.”

 

It was her second double goal match of her young collegiate career as Solaun also registered a pair of goals at Mississippi during her freshman season.

 

Sunday’s match was the first home action since the season opener on Aug. 17 and Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh thought the Gators’ effort tonight showed progress.

 

“I really think we have come a long way since the last time we played here,” Burleigh said. “I was really pleased with everything tonight in terms of our ability to generate goal scoring chances, our ability to be relentless when we went for the ball; execution in finishing was obviously something we still need to work on.”

 

The Gator attack Sunday generated 10 shots on goal, a 2012 high for the team.

 

Sunday was the first home appearance for junior transfer Adriana Leon. She rejoined the Gators after playing with the Canadian national team at the FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup in Japan. It was her third appearance in a match in the span of a week, as she registered an assist and played the entirety of Canada’s 2-1 loss to North Korea Monday in Saitama, Japan, in the final day of World Cup group play. She made the 7,000 mile journey to Florida and made her first appearance for the Orange & Blue last Friday at Florida State. She was impressed by the support shown by the Labor Day weekend crowd on hand Sunday.

 

“It is awesome with all the fans that came out and all the support we have,” Leon said.

 

Leon played her first two collegiate seasons at Notre Dame. It was Leon who scored the only goal of the 2010 NCAA College Cup championship match to give the Fighting Irish their third national crown with a 1-0 win over Stanford. As a freshman, she was fifth on the ND team with four goals, two assists for 10 points and ranked second among the Irish in 2011 with six goals, five assists for 17 points.

 

Florida continues home action again next Sunday when New Mexico (2-3-1) makes its first visit to Pressly Stadium. New Mexico defeated Texas 2-1 in double overtime in Austin, Texas, on Sunday. Match time for the UF-UNM match is set for 1 p.m. and admission is free.

 

Live streaming video of Sunday’s match is available via GatorVision. The match can also be heard on ESPN 850/900, by simulcast on Cox Channel 946 (Gainesville/Ocala) or on www.GatorZone.com with Adam Schick and Matthew Stubbington calling the action.

 

 

Scoring Summary:	1st	2nd	Final
Florida International	0	0	0
Florida	2	1	3
Scoring:
UF: Havana Solaun (Tessa Andujar) 12:30
UF: McKenzie Barney (Erika Tymrak, Jo Dragotta) 26:45
UF: Solaun (Holly King) 57:40
Goalkeepers:					Minutes	Saves	GA
Florida International	Kaitlyn Savage				90:00	6	3
Florida	Taylor Burke				74:12	2	0
	Valerie Tysinger				15:48	0	0
Statistical Summary:			FIU		UF
Shots			8		24
Shots on goal			2		10
Saves			7		2
Fouls			10		5
Corner Kicks			4		5
Offside			0		4

 

Cautions: Nikki Rios/FIU – yellow (55:00)