Three goals by junior Stacy Bishop led the University of Florida soccer team (3-2-1) to a 7-0 win over Jacksonville (3-3) Sunday afternoon in front of a James G Pressly Stadium crowd of 1,042. The shutout was the first for the Gators this season.

Bishop’s three goals Sunday marked her second collegiate hat-trick and first as a Gator. Her first hat-trick was actually a hat-trick plus two as she hit five goals as a LSU freshman in the Tigers’ 12-0 win over Jackson State on Aug. 31, 2003.

The first two goals of the match were scored by Bishop.  Her first goal at 1:57 came as she was framing the goal when Megan Kern’s shot was deflected and Bishop was there to put it in. The goal was the earliest goal scored by UF this season. She then hit a 10-yard shot off the cross from freshman Tricia Townsend at 15:01. Bishop finished her hat-trick at 53:05 when Jessica Eicken’s cross found her in the box and Bishop put away the 10-yard strike to the near post. She is the first Gator to turn in a hat-trick since Ashley Kellgren turned in three goals versus Duke on Sept. 6, 2004 in Chapel Hill, N.C.

It was big day for Bishop and not just because of the hat-trick. Her older brother, Brian, arrived in Orlando today after an eight-month tour in Iraq with the Marines. He was not able to attend Sunday’s match because of the travel, but he spoke to Bishop prior to the match.

“He told me to come home to see him and to kick some butt,” Bishop said. “It was really nice to hear from him. I haven’t actually talked to him in a couple of months. It is a relief that he is home.”

Bishop was pleased with the Gators performance Sunday.

“I thought today was a good win. Our team needed to come out and play strong,” Bishop said. “It was our first shutout, so credit goes to our defense.”

The Gators finished the first half scoring when goalkeeper Brittni Goodwin emerged from a corner kick scrum to grab the ball and then roll it out to freshman Angela Napolitano near the top of the UF box. Napolitano shot toward the JU goal and won a 1 v 1 situation with the goalkeeper for her third goal of the season. Goodwin is the only Gator goalkeeper to earn an assist and Sunday’s was the second of her career.

“(Angela) is a player who can turn on the ball really easily, and she’s a finisher. She’s a pure finisher,” UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. “Angela has done that ever since we started watching her in the recruitment process.”

Two Gators scored within a minute to begin the second half scoring. Defender Liz Ruberry scored her first collegiate goal Sunday at 46:51. She was just above the six-yard box when Ashley Harris was driving toward the goal. Harris’ shot was deflected, but Ruberry was there to put it in from eight yards. Ameera Abdullah got into the scoring action at 47:37. She received the ball from Shana Hudson deep in the JU half and then drove the end line into the box. Abdullah shifted her direction to elude the defender and put the ball in at the far post for her third goal of the year.

Ananda O’Neal turned in her first goal of the season Sunday to finish the UF scoring. She headed in the cross from Katie Green from her position in the middle of the box at 56:33 to give her the second goal of her career.

“Katie Green had the same service the same way earlier and I made an attempt, but didn’t connect. I thought ‘I’m going to get the next one,’” O’Neal said. “So I was coming in and I knew I had to get there because Katie was going to cross it in again. I got there, met it with my head and dove. I wanted to find the corner and I did. The goalie got a tap on it but I found it (the corner).”

The Gators are now heading into a stretch of three consecutive matches versus top-15 teams. Burleigh hopes that some of the connections the Gators showed today will be effective in these future matches.

“The things that work against the not-so-strong teams will also work against the strong teams. We just have to keep doing it. When you get to the end line and you play balls tough, you can score two or three goals,” Burleigh said. “Today was an efficient day for us and I hope that carries over to the weekend.”

Next up, Florida travels to Durham, N.C., to meet two top-15 teams at the Duke adidas Classic. UF opens the weekend Friday, Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. with No. 15 Duke. Then the Gators face No. 5 North Carolina on Sunday, Sept. 17 at noon. Both matches can be heard live on WRUF-AM 850.