The No. 24 University of Florida soccer team (6-3-1, 2-0 SEC) finished its first weekend of Southeastern Conference play with a 4-1 win over Alabama (4-6, 0-2 SEC) in front of an Alabama Soccer Complex crowd of 304.

All of Florida’s scoring came in the first half, and the Gators got on the board quickly. Ameera Abdullah turned in the Gators’ fastest goal of the season at 1:46. Freshman Angela Napolitano crossed the ball deep from the Alabama half into the box, where Abdullah one-touched it into the goal from 12-yards.

In the 14^th minute, Liz Ruberry sent a free kick along the right side line, finding Shana Hudson in stride. Hudson crossed the ball into the box where Stacy Bishop put it in from the middle of the goal. She and Abdullah share UF’s goals lead with five each.

The Gators struck again at 17:48 when Bishop found Daniela Sanchez near the top of the box. Sanchez turned, took the shot and put the ball in the net from 16 yards at the upper far post for her first goal of the season.

Florida finished its first half scoring at 34:58 when Katie Green crossed the ball from the left sideline into the box. Her ball found Bianca Gibbs, who scored her second goal of the season from eight-yards.

The only scoring of the second half came off the long ball. Natalie Kohn’s 40-yard shot caught the far post and got the fortunate bounce to score for the Tide at 62:23.

“It was a big first half and we got on the board quickly, which was one of our goals. We scored some great goals. There was some excellent finishes in the first half,” UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. “I think that if before this game you would have told us that we would win 4-1, we all would have been happy. The only reason we are a little bit disappointed is because we were a little big sluggish in the second half. But it is still a good win on the road and now we get ready to head into a big weekend.

Florida opens home SEC action by playing host to two Eastern division rivals. Florida opens the weekend Friday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. with Georgia (6-3, 1-1 SEC). The Bulldogs opened SEC play with a 3-2 win at Mississippi State and lost 3-0 at Mississippi on Sunday. Then Florida faces defending SEC regular-season and tournament champion No. 8 Tennessee (4-3-2, 0-1-1 SEC) on Sunday, Oct. 1 at 1:30 p.m. The first 1,000 fans at Friday’s match will receive orange Beat Georgia t-shirts courtesy of Dodge as the Gators attempt to break the attendance record of 5,222. The match can be heard live on www.GatorZone.com and the match will air tape-delayed on Sun Network Sept. 30 at 9:30 p.m.