The University of Florida soccer team (4-2-1) made an early goal the difference as it defeated No. 17 Duke (4-3) 1-0 Friday evening in front of a Koskinen Stadium crowd of 1,150. It was the second consecutive shutout for the Gators this season.

Sophomore Ameera Abdullah struck early for the Gators Friday. She received the ball above the box and took a hard shot. Duke goalkeeper Allison Lipsher came out to make the stop, but couldn’t completely cover the ball. Abdullah, who had hit the ground after the shot, bounced up and put the ball in from 12 yards at 3:38 for her fourth goal of the season.

“I went at the keeper and at first I didn’t see that she had lost it so I got up quick to try to recover,” Abdullah said. “I saw it right in front of me and I just hit it.”

With the goal, Abdullah is now tied with Stacy Bishop for the 2006 Gator goal lead at four. It is the sixth goal of her collegiate career, with half of those scores coming within the first five minutes of play.

“I’ve been working on keeping that focus from the time we start to the time we finish,” she continued. “I guess that is how I got the goal.”

The Gators had some other first-half chances, including a deep cross from Shana Hudson in the 39^th minute that went off the thigh of Megan Kern into the hands of DU’s Lipsher.

In the second half, the Gators withstood a barrage of Blue Devil shots, as DU outshot the Gators 11-4 in that half.

“Honestly, I thought that was the worst game we played all year. But on the road and against an in-the-region team, I’d rather win ugly than lose pretty any day,” UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. “It was a hard-fought win. Our problem was that we didn’t put them away early. We had chances to put them away early and we left them in the game. They came at us with all sorts of pressure because they had nothing to lose. We did a good job of withstanding the pressure they put on us.”

Florida continues play at the Duke adidas Classic on Sunday when it meets perennial power and current No. 5 North Carolina on Sunday, Sept. 17 at noon. UNC won 2-0 over Marquette in the opening match of the Classic. The UF-UNC match can be heard live on WRUF AM 850.