Five different players turned in goals Sunday afternoon as the No. 19 University of Florida soccer team (2-1) turned in its first shutout of the year with a 5-0 win over No. 9 Connecticut (2-2) in the second day of action at The Inn of Saint Mary’s Soccer Classic held at Notre Dame’s Alumni Field.

KeLeigh Hudson successfully converted her first collegiate penalty kick opportunity at 42:34 to give the Gators a 1-0 halftime lead. The penalty kick was awarded when freshman Ameera Abdullah drew the foul after she drove the endline to bring the ball into the box.

Two goals came quickly for the Gators in the second half. The first came began with a Kelli Eisenbrown throw-in. Jasmine Johnson headed her shot, which was deflected by UConn goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe. Cherry Pickman found the ball in the box and scored on her short shot for her second goal of the year at 58:18.

“Jasmine won a ball in a service scramble. Ameera sort of popped it up and I just touched it back to finish,” Pickman said.

The Gators again scored on a deflection at 63:58. This time, Melanie Booth took the shot just inside the box after successfully beating her defender on the endline. The shot was deflected, but Johnson was there to head it in for her third goal of the season. Johnson has scored in each of Florida’s three matches this season.

“I saw Mel coming up and it looked like the play from Friday night (in UF’s match versus Notre Dame when Johnson scored). I sprinted toward the goal and saw that she was going to shoot it. We’ve been practicing framing the goal for a rebound and that’s what happened. I just put my body in front of the ball and headed it in,” Johnson said.

Freshman Katie Green got her first collegiate goal at 78:15. The play was set up when Jessica Young served up UF’s second corner kick of the match. Ananda Erickson headed the ball which was stopped by the goalkeeper, but Green pounced on the deflection to up the score to 4-0.

The next goal also came from another first time Gator goal scorer. Senior Lindsey DeLorenze hit a driving shot from 16 yards at 85:03 to the upper slot of the goal. DeLorenze, who transferred to UF from North Carolina State last season, had scored three goals in her Wolfpack career, but this is her first as a Gator.

Plenty of Gators saw action on Sunday, as 20 turned in minutes on Sunday.

“We were all really pleased that when subs went it, the level (of play) didn’t drop,” Pickman said. “That was huge, especially on Sundays when you need a lot of people to play. A lot of people got to play, a lot of people had great goals – it was a good response from losing Friday night.”

UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh was pleased with her team’s response after falling 4-1 to No. 1 Notre Dame Friday evening. 

“Our main priority was to get the shutout, which we did. To score five goals in the No. 9 team in the country is a great comeback from Friday night,” Burleigh said. “The best part is that it was a real team effort. We challenged them to trust each other and play for each other and that happened today.”

UF goalkeeper Jen Gardner made a couple of key saves in the opening half. In the eighth minute, UConn’s Brittany Taylor had a 1v1 situation with Gardner, but Gardner was able to end the play in the box before a shot was taken. Taylor also took a shot midway in the opening half, but Gardner came out of her box and stopped the point blank shot. For her efforts, Gardner was named the goalkeeper of The Inn at St. Mary’s Soccer Classic all-tournament team. Other Gators on the all-tournament team included Johnson and junior midfielder Ananda Erickson.

Next up, the Gators begin a three-match homestand by playing host to Loyola College on Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. Then UF meets Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 12:30 p.m. Both matches can be heard live at www.GatorZone.com. Check out www.GatorZone.com to get information about GatorVision - the live streaming video service available for both matches.