The No. T-18 University of Florida soccer team (0-0-1) and defending NCAA champion and current No. 1 Portland (0-0-1) played to a 1-1 double overtime tie Friday evening in front of a damp James G. Pressly crowd of 1,268 to open the 2006 season.

The threatening skies during warm-up opened up to a shower that lasted most of the opening half. The Pilots took the lead early in the match when UP’s top returning scorer, sophomore Megan Rapinoe, put in a six-yard shot at 15:43. The Gators had some excellent scoring opportunities, but nothing that crossed the goal line.

“At halftime, we just went in and talked about Portland being the No. 1 team, and about how we were only down by one goal, which was an earned goal that we created,” UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. “We felt like we had our chances and that we would have some more chances in the game.”

The tying goal came off a penalty kick awarded to the Gators at 85:26. Junior KeLeigh Hudson was in the box moving toward the goal when she was fouled.

“The ball got switched to me and I could see the goal,” Hudson said. “I felt the girl coming and she clipped my leg when I tried to take the shot.”

Junior Stacy Bishop, making her first Gator appearance since transferring to UF after playing her first two seasons at LSU, hit the penalty kick to knot the score at 1-all. There was never any doubt in her mind, as after the match, Bishop simply said “When I stepped up to the ball, I thought ‘I’m going to score.’”

Neither team could hit the golden goal in the overtime periods, with Portland getting the edge in each extra period 3-2 in shots.

“We definitely wanted to win it. We didn’t want to sit back. A tie is so unsatisfying for both teams, but we still didn’t want to sit back and wait for it to happen – we wanted to try and win,” Burleigh said. “I think it was a really gutsy performance tonight. Portland deserves their No. 1 ranking, and they are a very good team. It was a really even game – we had some possessions, they had some possessions, and we had some great chances and they had some great chances.”

The starting lineup tonight featured five players making their Gator debut – the most new players among an UF season-opening starting lineup since 1998, when UF also had five newcomers. Tonight’s group of newcomers consisted of three transfers (Bishop, junior Shelley Lyle and sophomore Erin Davis) and two freshmen (Ashlee Elliott and Lauren Hyde).

Florida is now 11-0-1 all-time in home openers. This is only the second time since 1997 that the National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason No. 1 team has tied its season opener (first time was then No. 1 Santa Clara and UCLA tied 1-1 in 2003). Only once in that span has the No. 1 team lost its first match of the season (then No. 1 Santa Clara lost 3-0 to Stanford in 2002).

Florida continues its four-match home stand when it plays host to Kennesaw State on Sunday, Aug. 27 at 1:30 p.m. The live, streaming video of Sunday’s match is available free on GatorVision -– just click on the GatorVision icon for more information.