With the help of a late second half goal, the No. 19 University of Florida soccer team (11-4-1, 6-2-1 SEC) defeated Louisiana State (6-8-2, 2-6-1 SEC) 2-1 Friday evening in front of a James G. Pressly Stadium crowd of 824.

Friday’s match was previously scheduled for 8 p.m. but was moved up to 6:30 p.m. earlier in the week. Gainesville experienced scattered showers a few hours before the match, leaving the field damp for tip-off.

The first half began at a slow pace with both teams trading possession because of turnovers and miscues.  At 27:50, Florida senior midfielder Rie Sawai drove the ball down the middle of the field and kicked a sharp pass through two defenders into the LSU box to freshman midfielder Megan Kerns.  The ball’s spot brought LSU freshman goalkeeper Jackie Moseley out of the box.  Kerns first maneuvered around the goalkeeper and then beat her defender to the left.  With an open goal, Kerns set-up from 15 yards out and kicked the ball sharply into the left side of the net to put the Gators ahead 1-0. The goal was Kerns’ third of the season.

“To be honest, the only thing I remember is Rie passing it, the goalie missing it and me shooting it. Otherwise it is a big blur,” Kerns said. “The only thing I was thinking was ‘keep your composure’. I was trying to stay as calm as possible.”

LSU needed to change the pace of the second half and did so almost immediately after the opening kick of the half.  After driving the ball down into the Florida box from midfield, LSU freshman midfielder Melissa Clarke passed the ball to her right to senior midfielder Kate Ripple.  Ripple struck an equalizer hard to the far post at 46:18 to tie the match 1-1. 

With the score tied and time winding down in the second half, the Gators continued looking for a goal to avoid an overtime period. At 81:05, sophomore midfielder KeLeigh Hudson caught a long rebound off the LSU goalkeeper, took a two-step drop and planted the ball into the net from 10 yards out to put the Gators up 2-1. With the goal, Hudson moved into a tie for first among UF’s goal scorers, joining Cherry Pickman and Melanie Booth with five goals this season.

““It felt great. We needed a goal,” KeLeigh Hudson said. “We couldn’t seem to score even though we had so many chances. It finally clicked for us and we were able to score.”

UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh was pleased with the match overall but disappointed at the number of opportunities her players gave LSU.

“We had two good goals; both of them were well executed,” she said.  “KeLeigh (Hudson) made a good shot on the goal, but we are still giving up too many chances to the opposition.”

Next up, the Gators travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to meet SEC Western Division rival Arkansas on Sunday, Oct. 23.  Match time is set for 1:30 p.m. (ET).  The match can be heard live on www.GatorZone.com and seen on COX Sports Television (channel 67 on Gainesville/Ocala Cox Cable).