BATON ROUGE — Behind 30-yard blast by Andi Sellers and a own goal, No. 10 Florida (17-3-1) won its sixth straight SEC Tournament Title with a 2-1 win over Auburn (11-7-1).
“We are excited to win the SEC tournament. I don’t think we played with our best effort today, but maybe Auburn had something to do with that. We knew they were tough defensively and they lived up to there billing,” said Florida head coach Becky Burleigh.
The Gators dominated most of the game putting pressure on freshman goalkeeper Megan Rivera the entire game. Rivera had six saves and she turned back many other Gator scoring opportunities and helped the Tigers stay in the game.
Using a sharp crisp passing attack with the occasional long-ball Florida out-shot Auburn 13-8.
Abby Wambach led the Gator attack offensively with five shots, four of them on goal. Wambach was named tournament MVP. Wambach wasn’t the only Gator that gave the Tigers trouble Sunday.
“That’s the thing about Florida, you can’t just concentrate on defending Wambach. They have so many good players all-around that are dangerous. You really can’t stop them,” said Auburn head Coach Karen Richtner.
The Gators got on the scoreboard first when Sellers found herself in open space from about 40 yards out. She ripped a shot into the upper-left corner and Florida led 1-0 in the 35th minute.
The Gators extended their lead to 2-0 when Crystal Erimpong crossed the ball into the six-yard box. Her pass was deflected by Auburn defender Megan Stam and rolled into the goal for an Auburn own goal at the 48th minute.
The Tigers made things interesting with a goal to cut Florida’s lead to 2-1. Midfielder Christina Culver dribbled then ball inside the 18-yard box and was taken down by Florida goalkeeper Jordan Kellgren. The foul set up a penalty kick and Auburn’s Sandra Carnes cashed in the opportunity with a penalty kick goal at the 78th minute.
SEC Championship Game Player Quotes – Game 7
Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh
“Well, we are excited to win the SEC tournament. We look at this as our second season, the first season being the regular season. We completed it 3-0 and we look forward to our third season that will start on Friday. We just have to wait until tomorrow to find out where we will be. I don’t think we played with our best effort today, but maybe Auburn had something to do with that. Defensively they did a good job of slowing us down a little bit. At this point for us the games do not have to be pretty, the goals don’t have to be pretty. If you move on then you move on, and that is all we are looking to do. I would much rather win ugly than lose pretty and day at this stage.
On preparing for Auburn
“We knew what to expect, we knew what we were going to face. I do not think that they really surprised us at all with what they did. We knew they didn’t give up many goals all season and we knew they were tough defensively. They lived up to their billing.”
Florida Player Quotes
Andi Sellers – Forward
(On being in the SEC Championship again)
“I think it is great. I was talking to Karyn Hall on the bus before the game about how many different opponents we have played in the five years I have been here and the four years she has been here. For her it has been a different opponent every year. It is a testament to our program that we are the same team that comes back every year and is consistently in the finals.”
Abby Wambach – Forward
“Once getting into tournament play and from here on out, no matter who we are going to play it is going to be a close game. Even if we play a team that is ranked 20 seeds below us it will be a close game because it is tournament time and its do or die. It is single elimination and it is one of those things where you have to be patient. Goals are going to come whenever we get our chances and then it’s about being composed in the box and finishing those chances.”
Crystal Frimpong – Forward
(On utilizing her speed)
“I wasn’t able to in the first half. The second half I thought I did O.K. I got really tired because the ball kept coming to me side. I think I was able to wear them out along with myself too.
Karen Richter, Auburn Head Coach
“We put it all out on the line today. We had a shot to win it late and that’s all you can ask for.”
“We played really well today. I’m proud of the girls. Florida is a great team and they should be commended. We played a really great tournament and hopefully we helped put ourselves in a position to receive an NCAA bid.”
“That’s the thing about Florida. You can’t just concentrate on defending Wambach. They are so good all-around and they have so many great players that can hurt you. You really can’t stop them.”
“After we scored the goal we began to push Jennifer Walters up more on offense to see if she could help us develop a scoring situation. We hoped to put a little more pressure on them late in the game but they defended everything well.”
Sophomore, Defender- Sandra Carnes
“When we came out here today we weren’t trying to do better than any team we’ve played so far but just to try our best because we had nothing to lose. We came out here expecting the best and I’m real proud of our team right now. We did the best we could and we gave them a run for their money.”
“If they lost it would have been a big upset to them and if we had won that would have been amazing for us. We were very excited to play them. It was a great opportunity and who better to play in the finals than Florida.”
Goalkeeper Megan Rivera
“It is an amazing feeling to play Florida in the finals. This team has shown a lot of heart and coming back and having revenge against the two teams we lost to in the regular season. It means a lot to this team and we are going to give Florida a run for it. This team, altogether, played awesome. We showed a lot of heart and stuck it out.”