The No. 16 University of Florida soccer team (13-5-4, 7-1-3 SEC) lost 2-1 to Kentucky (14-6-3, 6-3-2 SEC) in Sunday’s Southeastern Conference Tournament final held in front of an Orange Beach SportPlex crowd of 1,124. Kentucky is assured a spot in the NCAA Championship as the SEC’s automatic bid recipient. Kentucky is now two-for-two in SEC Tournament finals, as the Wildcats also won the crown in 1995.

This was Florida’s 10th appearance in the SEC Tournament final in the program’s 12-year history and the first time UF lost a SEC final in 90 minutes of play. Florida is 7-2-1 all-time in SEC Tournament finals and 0-1-1 in league tournament finals held at the Orange Beach SportsPlex. Sunday’s loss ended Florida’s unbeaten streak at nine matches.

The Wildcats scored first Sunday. Giuleana Lopez had the ball in the box and spied Megan Jones making a run in the box. Lopez’s pass found Jones who was able to one-touch the ball into the goal from eight yards.

A 20-yard Gator free kick in the final minute of the first half tied up the match at 1-all. The free kick was awarded when Ameera Abdullah was fouled as she started her run at the top of the box. The ball was placed just a couple of paces above the box and Stacy Bishop’s strike found the upper slot of the goal for her second free kick score of the tournament. Bishop also scored her first of two goals in Friday’s 2-0 semifinal win over South Carolina on a 30-yard free kick.

The tie quickly evaporated in the second half as problems clearing the ball led to a quick Wildcat goal. Jones pounced on the deflection that bounced off of Gator defender Lauren Hyde and put the ball in the near post from 12 yards at 46:57 for her second goal of the afternoon.

For the match, Florida outshot Kentucky 27-11, but as the minutes ticked off in the second half, more and more of the Gators shots were coming from long range. Probably the best attempt came in the 61^st minute when Daniela Sanchez took a 38-yard shot. Her strike was on frame and UK goalkeeper Anne Ogundele saved it over the cross bar for a Gator corner kick. The Gators kept putting players forward as the match wore on, but couldn’t find the equalizer.

“It was a timely goal by us (Bishop’s goal before halftime), but we’ve got to score in the run of play,” UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. “We took 27 shots, but didn’t score in the run of play. That’s a problem. We ended the game with two in the back. You can’t get a whole lot more offensive than that. We put numbers forward and they absorbed the pressure.”

Florida was unable to solve the Kentucky system Sunday, Burleigh said.

“I’m disappointed. I thought we had the better of play, but they had the better of the score and that’s what counts,” Burleigh said. “I thought they did a good job of bunkering and then counter attacking. It was pretty effective. They have the right personnel to do that and they do it very effectively.”

Florida placed three on the SEC All-Tournament team – the same three that were named to the All-SEC First Team on Tuesday. Abdullah, Bishop and Hyde were voted to the All-Tournament team. Bishop led all scorers at the tournament with four goals. Kentucky also placed three on the All-Tournament team – Sarah Gaunt, Jones and Ogundele. The UK goalkeeper, who recorded 13 saves Sunday, was named the tournament MVP.

Florida will now await the announcement of the 2006 NCAA Soccer Championship field on Monday, Nov. 6. The 64-team field will be revealed on ESPNews sometime between 3-4 p.m. Florida has received NCAA bids nine times, winning the title in 1998.