Soccer: Florida hands A&M first SEC loss 2-1

Game Recap

Shea Groom netted her third goal in two games and goalkeeper Jordan Day registered six saves, but the 5th ranked Aggies weren't able to fight off a pesky 18th ranked Florida squad and ended up dropping a high-stakes contest by a final score of 2-1 from Ellis Field on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, A&M falls to 12-2-1 on the year and 6-1-1 in SEC play, while the Gators move to 10-3-1 overall and 7-1-0 in conference.

Groom got things started for the Maroon and White when she took advantage of a perfectly placed Beth West corner kick in the 22nd minute. West's serve came to the far side of the box and Groom timed her jump well enough to redirect the ball with her head and into the Florida goal for the early 1-0 lead.

However, the A&M lead wouldn't last long.

Eight minutes later, Florida evened the match at 1-1 off an unassisted goal by midfielder Jo Dragotta. Dragotta took a free kick from just outside the left of the box that found its way into the A&M net when a Gator player 'dummied' the redirection. The moment of hesitation was all that was needed to get the ball past Day.

Florida added to their lead in the 39th minute when a corner kick from Erika Tymrak was handled by midfielder Havana Solaun. Solaun then passed the ball to forward Adriana Leon who hit a beautiful one-timer past Day from about six yards out, giving the Gators the 2-1 lead late in the first half.

"I really don't blame [Day] on the second goal," said A&M head coach G Guerrieri. "I'm disappointed because we didn't come out and play our best. Playing a quality team like Florida, these are the games that we look forward to the most. They're the games with the most on them, and we had a few people who just weren't on today."

While neither side tallied a goal in the second period, Florida proved to be the better team on this day by taking the Aggie attack out of their game for the final 45 minutes of play.

A&M was able to muster a last-chance flurry of attacks late in the second half, but Florida goalkeeper Taylor Burke and the Gator back line were more than up to the task of handling two shots by Aggie forward Annie Kunz in the waning minutes of the match.

While the A&M defeat gives the Gators possession of first place in the SEC, the Aggies still hold a clear advantage in the SEC West over second place Auburn.

"Now we have to get people to help us out a little bit in the conference," said Guerrieri. "There are still five games to go and we have to get better in these next five games."

Next up, the Aggies travel to Fayetteville on Friday to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks (5-7-1, 2-4-1) before heading over to Nashville to play the Vanderbilt Commodores (5-4-5, 2-1-4) on Sunday.

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Post-game notes

* The Aggies and Gators both registered 19 shots on the match.

* The two goals scored by the Gators were only A&M's third and fourth goals given up in SEC play this season.

* A&M is now 4-3 all time against Florida.