Three goals by three different players snapped Vanderbilt’s 12-match win streak as the No. T20 University of Florida soccer team (9-3-1, 4-1-1 SEC) shutout Vanderbilt (12-2, 5-1 SEC) 3-0 Sunday afternoon in front of a James G. Pressly Stadium crowd of 1,000.

Coming into Sunday’s match, Vanderbilt shared the lead in the Southeastern Conference race with Tennessee as each owned undefeated league records. Tennessee defeated LSU 2-0 Sunday to move into sole possession of the league lead.

The first Gator goal came off a scramble in the box. Freshman Katie Green was able to keep the ball in play along the end line and got the ball into the box. Junior Melanie Booth tucked the ball just inside the post at 36:05 to match the UF season individual lead for goals at four. With the goal, it ended Vanderbilt goalkeeper Tyler Griffin’s consecutive scoreless minutes streak at 550:35 – a VU school record.

“The ball was bouncing around,” Green said. “At first I was confused because Mel and I were both running right at it. But I was able to get to it right at the line and hit it on the outside of my foot straight to Mel who was able to finish it.”

“I give credit to Katie for keeping the ball in play,” Booth said. “I felt like I didn’t have to do much because she did most of the work.”

UF took advantage of an early second-half corner kick at 47:05 to take a 2-0 lead. Jessica Young served the ball to the top of the six-yard box. Sophomore Daniela Sanchez perfectly timed her jump, heading the ball into the net. The goal was Sanchez’s second of 2005.

Florida scored again at 62:20 with a play that started with a give-and-go between Cherry Pickman and Green. Green played the ball to Pickman at the corner of the box and Pickman sent the ball back to Green, who was now making a run. Green caught up to the ball and served it from the end line into the box where freshman Megan Kerns scored on a two-yard back-heel shot.

It was the first goal for Kerns since the season opener as she had missed four weeks of action due to a torn left meniscus. UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh sees improvement from Kerns in each outing.

“We always knew Megan was a great player. It was just unfortunate that she got injured early on. The games she played before this weekend, she was just kind of getting back,” Burleigh said. “I think this weekend defined her as being back and she’s playing at the level that we expected her to play at the beginning of the season. What a great goal.”

The Gators entered this weekend without three regular starters and will be without two of them for the remainder of the season.  Sophomore midfielder Jasmine Johnson, tied for fifth among the Gators with seven points (three goals, one assist), will have surgery on a meniscus tear to her left knee.  Junior defender Amber Presnick has left the team, and freshman midfielder Ameera Abdullah has a stress fracture in her left shin and will be out of action at least two weeks. Booth, a team tri-captain, commented about how others on the team are helping out.

“Bianca Gibbs got two goals Friday and Katie Green stepped up today and played amazing,” Booth said. “People step up and fill the void when needed. Coming in, we knew it was going to be a tough game. We knew they had good defense and a very strong goal keeper. To come in here and get three goals on them was really big for us.”

Burleigh agreed that depth has been key in Florida’s two wins this weekend (UF defeated Kentucky 4-2 Friday).

“Whenever you lose players, that is a concern. But we’ve always thought that one of the strengths of this team is the depth of this team. That has shown to be true, particularly this weekend,” Burleigh said. “This is a really good win because I think we were committed to good team defense for the first time in a long time. It started with the forwards and went all the way to the keepers. This is what we’ve been trying to get to.”

Florida continues SEC action on Friday, Oct. 14 when it travels to Starkville, Miss., to meet Mississippi State. Match time is set for 8 p.m. (ET) and the match will be televised live on Sun Sports as part of “Friday Night Gators”. Audio of the match can also be heard on WRUF-AM 850 and at www.GatorZone.com.