SPECIAL TO GC

ATHENS, Georgia – A 3-0 win Thursday at Georgia gives Florida Gators soccer at least a share of the 2015 Southeastern Conference title. The match was played in front of 1,722 at the UGA Soccer Stadium crowd.

Florida entered the match in a two-way tie for first in the SEC standings. If the Tigers win their match tonight versus Texas A&M, the two teams will share the 2015 title.

The Gators opened with two first-half goals – both off the foot of Savannah Jordan. The first in the 21st minute came after a nice build-up by the Gators, as several players combined to bring the ball down from the Florida half to above the Georgia box. Meggie Dougherty Howardone-touched the ball to Brooke Sharp, located just above the box. Sharp immediately turned to play a ball through the box which Jordan ran down and placed in with her right foot from 10 yards.

Jordan also took advantage of a misplay by the Georgia goalkeeper to score just before the half. A counterattack started with a long ball from Dougherty Howard. The ball landed just below the Bulldog defensive third and Louise Hogrell came out of the box to try to clear the ball. But Jordan won the ball and drove into the box to score on the empty goal at 44:39.

The Gators were awarded a penalty kick in the 55th minute after Jordan was pushed down in the box. Pamela Begič successfully converted the penalty kick to give the Gators the final margin.

Worth Noting:

* The two goals give the SEC scoring leader her fifth multi-goal match of the season. Jordan has now scored 19 goals in her junior season.

* The shutout was Florida’s second consecutive and fourth of 2015.

SEC Title Notes:

* Florida was picked to win the SEC in the preseason coaches vote.

* The Gators will be the No. 1 seed for next week’s SEC Tournament as they win the tie-breaker over Missouri (since the two teams didn’t meet in 2015 regular-season action, tie-breaker based on points earned against common opponents).

* In the program’s 21-year history, Florida soccer leads the league with 14 SEC crowns.

* It is title No. 225 for the Gators athletics program – the league high.

* This is the third time Florida has opened league play with a loss (2-1 vs Texas A&M on Sept. 10) and went on to win the SEC title (opened 0-2 in 2007; opened 0-1 in 2012).

What the Gators Said:

Florida started off the SEC season with two losses in its first four matches. Did you think the team could get in a position to win its 14th league title?

This has been by far one of the most resilient teams I’ve ever coached. We’ve been in situations where we’ve been down in games and come back. Two or three weeks ago, we didn’t know we would be in this position to have a shot to win to win the SEC regular season title but they just kept fighting back and fighting back. It was really impressive the will they showed.” – Florida head soccer coach Becky Burleigh

On the Gators play tonight: