Aug. 27, 2004

GAINESVILLE, FL - The University of Dayton women's soccer team was 3:14 from forcing No. 12 University of Florida to overtime, before falling 3-2 at Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, FL Friday night. Junior Katie Lowstuter (Cincinnati, OH) and freshman Courtney Sirmans (Dayton, OH) each scored goals in the Flyers' second-half comeback.

The Gators, in front of a home-opening crowd of 1,273, struck for the first two goals of the match. In the 17th minute, Christine Johnson slammed a ball from eight yards out, which deflected off the near post, skidded along the goal line and bounced in off the far post. Cherry Pickman and Ashley Kellgren provided assists.

Once UD settled into the lightning-fast pace of the match, the Flyers had chances of their own to equalize things in the first half. In the 36th minute, senior MF Tesia Kozlowski (Westerville, OH) crossed a ball from the endline to the far post, but could not connect with junior Reba Sedlacek (Hamilton, OH).

"We knew coming in both the speed of their players and the field would be factors," said UD head coach Mike Tucker. "Once we adjusted, we were able to create some chances and do some of things we wanted to do offensively."

Although being out-shot 6-1 in the first half, the Flyers' kept themselves in the match with solid play along the defensive line, made a strategic adjustment and took the 1-0 deficit to halftime.

"We started with a 4-3-3 and switched to a 4-4-2 and that really made the difference for us," said Tucker. "Florida is a very good team and I felt we were giving up too much on the flanks."

But the Gators extended the lead to 2-0 in the 57th minute as Jasmine Johnson finished Kellgren's corner kick with a diving header at the near post.

The Flyers' adjustments paid off as UD tied the match on similar, back-to-back goals 15 minutes apart. Five minutes after the Gator's goal, senior D Jen Simonetti (Copley, OH) served a free kick into the box, it bounced around in heavy traffic but squirted free to a wide-open Lowstuter, who scored unassisted from eight yards out to the near side.

In the 77th minute, another Simonetti restart found the feet of Sirmans, who chipped it past UF keeper Brittni Goodwin from point-blank range. Simonetti was credited with the assist on Sirman's first collegiate goal and the match was tied at 2-2.

With overtime looming, Kellgren again figured in the scoring to cap off her four-point night. The Flyers were pushing forward looking for the game-winner and the Gators quickly countered in the closing minutes. Kellgren took a long pass, dribbled up the right flank and blasted a shot from 23 yards to the far corner for the game-winner.

For the match, senior GK Stacy DeLuca (Maryville, IL) - making the start against a top 25 team for the third time since last season - made two saves. Goodwin also collected two for Florida.

Ranked 12th by NSCAA and No. 6 by Soccer Buzz in the preseason, the Gators are the highest-ranked team to play the Flyers since tying No. 6 Virginia 1-1 last season. UD, which was No. 22 in last season's final poll, also played nationally-ranked California, Clemson and Ohio State in 2003.

The Flyers' opening weekend will continue Sunday at Central Florida. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. Coming off an NCAA appearance in 2003, the Golden Knight are the preseason favorite in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

"Obviously I'm disappointed with the outcome," said Tucker. "But overall I am very pleased with our effort and where we are as a team. We have players that have come back extremely fit and we have freshmen that are making great contributions. This team is at a starting point that far exceeds where we were at this time last year."