Tennessee (5-3-3, 1-1-2 SEC) used two first half goals to claim its first Southeastern Conference win Sunday afternoon with a 2-1 decision over No. 20 Florida (7-4-1, 3-1 SEC) in front of a James G. Pressly crowd of 2,189.

The Lady Vols took a 2-0 lead into halftime off of goals by sophomore Kylee Rossi. Her first goal at 18:05 came when she drove the end line and tucked in a three-yard shot at the near post. She scored again from 15-yards at 37:25 on a breakaway pass from Jordan Falcusan.

At halftime, the Lady Vols held a 3-2 advantage in shots, but a change in UF’s formation gave the Gators more offensive presence in the second half as UF outshot UT 11-6.

“We went to a 3-4-3 in the second half,” UF junior Shana Hudson said. “In the past we’ve had some success with this formation versus Tennessee because it put a lot more pressure up top.”

It was an initial shot by Shana Hudson that resulted in the Gators’ second-half score. The Gators got on the board at 67:15 when Shana Hudson took a shot from the top of the box. UT’s goalkeeper Jaimel Johnson made the save, but Ashley Harris was there to put in the deflection from two yards.

Florida had several chances to score in the second half. Just five minutes into the half, freshman Angela Napolitano received the ball from Stacy Bishop. She had a clear look at the goal in the box, but Johnson’s save tipped out of bounds for a Gator corner kick. In the 65^th minute, Ameera Abdullah made a move to shake off her defender before heading for the goal. She took a shot that deflected off UT defender Sarah Van Sickle, but Johnson was still able to make the save. Late in the half, Bishop took a hard shot that Johnson mishandled, but no Gators were in the vicinity to take advantage of the opportunity.

“We got ourselves in a hole early and that’s a little frustrating for us because in the second half we played much more our style. When we play our style, it works,” UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. “Why we fell into a trap of playing kick-and-run in the first half, I’m not sure, but it’s something we’ll work on in practice this week.”

“Their keeper made some great saves, and we didn’t take advantage of some of the opportunities we had. When we play our style, we create a lot of chances,” she continued. “It’s hard when you’re chasing goals. We’ve been chasing goals all weekend, and that takes its toll. I thought we were more fit, more lively in the second half. They were hanging in, trying to survive, and to their credit, they did.”

Florida takes to the road to meet two SEC Eastern Division rivals. Florida opens the weekend Friday, Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. at Vanderbilt (6-1-5, 2-0-2 SEC), then the Gators meet Kentucky (6-5-1, 1-2 SEC) on Sunday, Oct. 8 at 2 p.m. Both matches will be televised live by Sun Sports and the Vanderbilt match can be heard on WRUF AM 850.