No. 22 Florida Defeats VU Soccer 3-0

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — No. 22 Florida used three second-half goals to break a scoreless tie in a 3-0 win over Vanderbilt Sunday afternoon at James G. Pressly Stadium.

With the win, the Gators(13-4-2) captured the Southeastern Conference regular season crown with a 9-2 mark in league play. The loss ended the Commodores season at 6-10-3 overall and 3-6-2 in conference action.

The teams did not score in the first 65 minutes of the match until Ashlee Elliott scored from eight yards out on the left side off a rebound. The Gators then tallied two goals in just over a minute span to make it 3-0. Ameera Abdullah scored at the 72:09 mark from 14 yards out off of assists from Megan Kerns and Stacy Bishop. Bishop would then score herself off a free kick from 18 yards out at the 73:13 mark to close the match out.

Molly Kinsella led the Commodores offensively with four shots, including two on goal.

Vanderbilt’s five year streak of making the SEC tourney also came to an end and marked the final collegiate game of the team’s five seniors: Amy Baumann, Sarah Dennis, Brette Healy, Meredith Kohn and Audrey Nonemaker.

VU will return eight starters next year, including the top two scorers in Molly Kinsella and Amy Wilcox. Junior Katie Schulz and sophomore Megan Forester will be back to anchor the mid and backfields. Freshmen goalkeeper Rachel Bachtel and defenders Mary Rachel Reynolds, Taylour Claxton and Megan Eddings will all return with a year’s worth of starting experience.