The University of Florida soccer team (7-4-2, 3-2 SEC) used a season-high goals total to post a 5-0 win over Southeastern Conference Western Division rival Mississippi State (5-8-1, 1-4-1 SEC) Sunday afternoon in front of a MSU Soccer Field crowd of 276.

The Gators upped their season-high match total of goals to five, bettering the four goals turned in by UF versus USF on Sept. 7. This offensive performance was something the Gators have been waiting for, as UF entered today’s match with a 38-10 shots-on-goal advantage over its opponents in league play.

“I think we’ve been waiting for a while to have a little bit of a goal explosion and that finally happened today,” UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. “They were really good goals – good runs into the box, good services, good individual efforts – so it was a real team effort.”

Florida’s first goal of the match came from a Gator scoring her first goal of the season. Senior tri-captain Shana Hudson brought the ball up the field, shifting her drive to the center of the field after jumping over a sliding tackle attempt by MSU. She passed the ball left to Megan Kerns located near the top of the box. Kerns touched it right back to Shana Hudson, who continued her run into the box. Shana Hudson put the ball in off a hard eight-yard shot that went in untouched at the near post at 23:23. The goal was the second of the defender’s collegiate career.  

“It was all Megan Kerns,” Hudson said. “She put the best ball on my foot and I give her all the credit for that.”

The second goal started when sophomore Caitlin Howard, deep in the MSU half, crossed the ball to Stacy Bishop at the near post. She played the ball to the far post, where Ashley Harris put the short shot away at 39:40 to extend her Gator season goals lead to five. The assist was the first of Howard’s collegiate career and marked the second consecutive match with an assist for Bishop.

The final goal of the opening half started when MSU tried to clear the ball near the top of the Bulldog box. The clearance didn’t travel out of the 18-yard box circle, where Liz Ruberry pounced on her chance. Her right-footed shot was just inside the near post at 43:56 for her first goal of the season and the third of her Gator career.

Senior Bianca Gibbs provided all of the Gators’ second half scoring Sunday. Early in the half, she took a shot that drew the crossbar at 51:45, but made good on her second attempt just eight second later for her first goal of the season. Shana Hudson, about 10 yards inside the MSU half, collected the clearance attempt off of Gibbs’ first shot and sent the ball from the right side to the far post. Gibbs headed the ball untouched into the goal from about six yards at 51:53.

“I was a little frustrated when I hit the post because it was a nice shot. So I just wanted to get it in the goal after that,” Gibbs said. “It was a great serve from Shana and I was able to just head it in. I was excited to score with my head – that is something I work on because my timing isn’t always on.”

Late in the second half, Harris brought the ball through the MSU box and crossed it from the endline to the near post. Gibbs just got a foot on it to tuck it away at the near post at 86:13. It was the second multi-goal match of Gibbs career. She also had two goals versus Kentucky in the 2005 season.

“Ashley played it early, which was good because I was able to flick it on,” Gibbs said.

Next up, the Gators return home to play host to a pair of SEC Western Division teams. The weekend of action at the James G. Pressly Stadium begins Friday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. with Western Division leader Auburn (8-3-1, 4-1 SEC). The first 500 fans at Friday’s match will receive a replica jersey bottle koozie. Then Florida plays host to Alabama (9-4-1, 2-2-1 SEC) on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 1:30 p.m. (ET) and the first 1,000 fans will receive a hackey sack. Both matches are available on GatorVision. More information about GatorVision is available at the official website of the Florida Gators – www.GatorZone.com. Match statistics and streaming audio of both matches can also be found on www.GatorZone.com.